I Am Percy Jackson
by TalkingFish
Summary: Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon, is dead. There's no doubt that he won't be in Elysium. After all, he did save the world countless times. But is he going to stay in Elysium forever? Or is he going to take a dip in the River Lethe and be reborn? PJ/AC.
1. I Get Eaten by a Cannibal

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Percy Jackson and the Olympians." **

**I Am Percy Jackson**

_**Chapter 1: **__I Get Eaten By a Cannibal _

"Big Brother! Big Brother, wake up!"

I groaned and mumbled, "5 more hours, Mom."

"No, Brother! Now! Wake up, please!"

"Mmm, blue chocolate chip cookies..."

And the next thing I knew, my blue, warm blanket disappeared and the cold air crept up my body.

My eyes snapped open, I scrambled up from my bed, and I uncapped Riptide, drawing it forward. I blinked furiously to keep the sleep out of my eyes. I knew my eyes were red from lack of sleep.

Lately, I've been having a lot of demigod dreams and tonight was one of the rare nights where I didn't have a demigod dream. I knew most of the time, demigod dreams were warnings and usually came true in the future, but the dreams just didn't seem...right.

At the tip of my sword, stood Tyson, my baby brother. His eye was panicked and I heard a small whimper escape his mouth.

But that wasn't the only thing I heard.

I heard battle cries, screams, swords clashing, arrows firing, and I smelled...smoke? My eyes widened and I lowered my sword. My dreams came rushing back to me. No. _No, something else is happening_, I told myself, but my stomach felt funny. "Tyson, what's going on?"

"Monsters! Monsters everywhere!" he cried, stretching his arms as far as he could.

The moment the word _monsters _came out of Tyson's mouth, I dashed out of cabin 3, without any socks or shoes on. Once I got outside, I gasped, but my feet kept moving forward.

_The dreams. The dreams. They were trying to warn me all along, but I didn't believe it. No, no, no, this can't happen! My home, _I thought frantically. _I should've told Chiron or Grover or Annabeth or just...somebody! _

I felt a panic attack coming on, so I took deep breaths, taking my mortal doctor's advice whenever I went for check-ups when I was younger. Younger as in before I knew about Camp Half-Blood and the gods.

The Aphrodite, Hermes, Hephaestus, and Ares cabins were on fire. The flames were getting bigger and bigger, but nobody was caring for it. I felt a tug in my stomach and a huge splash of water fell upon the cabins. I winced at the damage the fire had done, but there was no time to examine the damage. There were monsters and I needed to fight.

I began running towards the entrance to Camp Half-Blood. The Pine Tree was looking sick and that wasn't a good sign. I looked for the Golden Fleece that should be resting upon the tree, but...it wasn't there. Someone had stolen it and now our defenses are low which makes it the perfect opportunity for monsters to attack us.

A few, but powerful empousai, some Cyclopes, and lots hellhounds–they were everywhere. Arrows flew everywhere, blood was spilt, and swords were clashing against one another. This was a nightmare. I'd say that this wasn't real and it was just simply a really bad demigod dream, but it would be a lie. This was real.

I wish the Hunters were here, but I knew they were busy fighting their own battles. I admit, the Hunters were good fighters.

A hellhound jumped towards me and I drew Riptide. The hellhound growled at me, showing it's fangs. _This isn't Mrs. O'Leary_, I chanted to myself. It was a monster and it was destroying my camp. That was absolutely unacceptable on all accounts. I swung my sword and it slowly disintegrated, leaving nothing but dust.

When I killed the Cyclopes, I felt really bad. Maybe it was because they looked so alike to Tyson and they were the children of Poseidon, my half-brothers, basically. I was killing my siblings. But they were destroying my home and trying to kill me, too.

The Cyclopes used my mom's or Annabeth's voice screaming in agony and pain several times. Since my fatal flaw was personal loyalty, it was hard to block out their screams and I hesitated several times. And because of that, the Cyclopes gave me some hard, _pretty_-looking bruises.

I killed one empousa with no problem, though. The empousa had tried to be seductive, but it didn't work. I knew her true form, how she really looked like, so I didn't hesitate when I raised Riptide and stabbed her. Although, before I stabbed her with Riptide, she got in some good scratches. Blood leaked out, but I didn't care.

Many of the campers were hurt and blood was gushing out of their cuts and I swallowed, fighting harder than ever. I hoped Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson were okay. Some of the Apollo kids stopped fighting, so they could tend to the wounded campers. Although, arrows were still firing more than ever.

After fighting monsters after monsters for a while, I sort of felt like Clarisse when she was fighting the drakon last year during the second Giant War. I saw her fighting earlier and honestly, I felt kinda bad for the monsters she battled with. That girl definitely doesn't go easy on anything. Especially when it comes to fighting. But then again, she is a daughter of Ares.

I knew I had received a few scars on my aching back, but I didn't stop. I raised my sword one more time and _bam_, the hellhound dissolved into nothing, but dust.

Sweat was raining down my face, but when I looked around, a small smile lit up my face. We were winning. Gray dust was on all of our clothes and skin. Camp Half-Blood was going to be saved. Those nasty monsters lost!

Maybe...maybe..._all_ the events that happened in my dreams won't come true.

A loud roar was heard. People's faces began to pale so fast that this camp could've been called Ghost Camp instead of Camp Half-Blood.

There was something familiar about that roar... I racked my brain to remember where I heard it before and the answer came to me a second too late. Yeah, you could call me slow when trying to remember things.

A seven feet tall furry monster with bulging muscles appeared out of the darkness. The Minotaur. The first monster I fought.

I was confused, though.

I had killed the Minotaur a total of two times. The first time was when I was coming to Camp Half-Blood and the second time was during the Giant War which was just a little over a year ago.

How in the Hades did the Minotaur reform so fast? Was that even possible?

Well, I guess it was possible since the Minotaur was standing _right there_, about to enter camp. It also looks like he brought along some friends–more hellhounds. Now that couldn't happen, but it could easily happen. Our defences were completely down by now.

I looked around and selfishly hoped that someone would step up to send the Minotaur back to Tatarus.

Nobody did.

I don't blame them. Every camper in sight looked worn out or slightly woozy, as if they're about to faint any second. Even Clarisse La Rue, a daughter of Ares (the god of war), looked tired. Dried blood that turned brown over time covered her body and in that moment, I immediately knew that I had to step up for the camp.

But before I could take a step forward, a satyr limped towards me.

"Perrrcy!" Grover bleated.

"G-man!" I said.

"_ROOOOOAAAAARR!"_ A half-man, half-bull monster jumped out of the darkness and into camp. Nothing was holding it back now since the Golden Fleece was no longer there. Who in the camp would do such a thing? To steal the Golden Fleece?

Strangely, the dragon that protected the tree had disappeared, too. My best guess was that the hellhounds, empousai, or the Cyclopes got to it.

Screams and shrieks erupted from the lungs of the younger campers. The older campers were more calm since they _had _participated in the second Giant War.

"THE MINOTAUR! IT'S HERE!"

"HELLHOUNDS!"

"WEAPONS, EVERYONE!"

"ARCHERS, READY!"

"AT MY COUNT...3, 2, 1, FIRE!"

Once again, arrows flew toward the Minotaur. Many arrows hit him, but it had no effect on him. He just simply kept walking closer and closer. I took my sword out, ready to take him on. I heard Grover whimpering beside me and crunching on a tin can. How he thought this was the time to eat, I have no idea.

I looked at Grover. "Annabeth?"

"With her cabin."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Percy," Grover started. "be careful. You're my best friend."

A small smile appeared on my face. "Grover. I've fought this ugly thing two times, I think I can do it again. Right?"

Grover shrugged. "Guess so, but you know, anything can happen. And you don't really look your best right now."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Sorry! I mean, of course you can do it!"

"Thanks."

"Percy."

"Yeah?"

"Promise. Promise you'll be okay."

"Grover..."

"Promise!"

"Fine, I promise."

"Good," said Grover.

I grinned and patted his shoulder. "Well...um, I'll be going now?"

"Ye–" His eyes widened to the size of my mom's blue chocolate chip cookies.

I raised an eyebrow at him and turned around to see what got him so tongue-tied.

It was Annabeth.

My heart literally stopped. Annabeth was dangling upside down from the Minotaur's right hand. Her face was as white as snow and fear was evident in her gray eyes. One thing I know about Annabeth was that she doesn't get _scared_.

I saw her half-siblings huddled together, probably strategizing a plan to save Annabeth. Athena kids didn't take risks, except for Annabeth.

The Minotaur began lifting Annabeth up, bringing her closer and closer to his mouth. He licked his lips hungrily and his stomach growled.

I saw red when he did that.

Recklessly, I charged towards the Minotaur, pushing everybody in my way and ignoring Grover's cries. I stood before the Minotaur, waving Riptide in front of me. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!" I yelled, using the same insults I used when I first fought him. "Remember me?"

Apparently he did because he lowered Annabeth away from his mouth, but he still didn't let her free. He bared his teeth at me and I glared at him. "Let her go!"

He growled and swung Annabeth behind him, hiding her behind his back. I darted my eyes back and forth thinking that I needed a plan. If only I was the one being captured! Annabeth does all the thinking and strategizing; not me!

"Look, what about a trade? Let her go and I'll take her place. Oh, and once you have me, you and your little buddies have to go and never come back," I said firmly. I knew that he would want me instead of her. After all, I was the one that sent him back to Tartarus two times.

"What, no! Percy, no!" screamed Annabeth. "Don't do it! YOU CAN'T!"

The Minotaur grunted and nodded and lowered Annabeth down on the ground. She stomped her feet and started to move her arms around. "NO! YOU STUPID, UGLY MONSTER! TAKE ME BACK! RUN PERCY!"

The Minotaur ignored her and started walking towards me. Well, more like stomping towards me. The ground shook when he stomped. I uncapped Riptide, getting into a fighting stance. "But you have to _fight_ me before you can get me," I grinned.

I saw Annabeth's half-siblings support her and when she caught my eye, she glared at me, but she mouthed, '_Be careful, Seaweed Brain._'

I nodded at her.

The Minotaur growled again and did something I did not expect. I thought he would've went fought me! I mean, come on, he is a monster.

Instead of coming to fight me, he turned back around, shoved Annabeth's half-siblings to the ground and picked Annabeth back up. He turned back around and grinned hideously.

I bit my tongue and cursed in Greek. There was no winning. When did the Minotaur get so smart? Was there school down in Tartarus now? I made a mental note to ask Nico that. That is, if I get out alive.

"Fine! Okay, you win! I won't fight you," I said, holding my hands up.

He lowered his head and pointed one of his very, very sharp horns toward Riptide. I groaned and capped my sword back into a pen and put it inside my pocket. "Happy?"

The Minotaur paused then grunted as if to say _Yes, I am very happy! Now I can finally kill you after all these years, I think!_

He rapidly threw Annabeth towards the Athena kids and ran towards me. He had his hands stretched out and in a blink, I found myself wrapped around a half-man, half-bull's large right hand. I thrashed my body everywhere, trying to get free, but it was useless. A half-man, half-bull's strength was obviously going to be stronger than mine.

"PEERRRRRCYYYYYYY!" screamed Annabeth and Grover. Although, Annabeth's scream overpowered Grover's.

"PERSEUS JACKSON YOU GET BACK DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" pleaded Annabeth, with tears almost forming in her eyes. Grover and Tyson were already sobbing my name. I have a strange feeling that Grover or Tyson were already planning my shroud. What nice friends I have.

"Don't you dare give up your life for me!" cried Annabeth. "I-It's not worth it!"

That was when I turned my head towards her and gray eyes met mine. I closed my eyes and my fatal flaw whispered, "It'll always be worth it."

Somehow, I know Annabeth heard it because she smiled sadly with tears streaming down her face like a waterfall. She kept shaking her head though, as if she was trying to tell herself she was just in a bad nightmare.

I wish it was just a bad nightmare.

Her mouth opened, but before I could hear what she was going to say, my lovely cannibal friend made some kind of inhuman sound that made me wish that I had brought my earmuffs. Eagerly, he opened his mouth and shoved me inside. I heard the entire camp shout in outrage and terror.

Ew, gross, right? Getting eaten by the Minotaur and being enveloped with all his saliva?

Well, yep, it was gross. Usually, people would scream: "AHHHHHH!" or something, but nope, I was thinking, _How ironic it is that the first monster I fought would kill me. Not to mention, I fought this monster two times and won..._

If you ever thought that once an immortal monster ate you, you would land in their stomach, you guessed wrong.

I was sliding down some kind of slimy, dark tunnel for about 10 minutes when suddenly, something pushed me out and I landed in front of a man wearing a silk Italian suit.

"Ugh, another one died, great," he muttered.

I got up and saw his name tag: CHARON.

"You!" I said.

"Me?" he said.

"You!" I repeated.

"M–? Oh, you!" he said. "I remember you! Got any more _drachmas_?"

"I remember you, too," I said dumbly.

"Well," he lifted his nose and sniffed, "looks like you're _really _dead this time. How did you die? Bathtub?"

"No, don't ask, I'm not telling you," I glared.

"Fine, don't tell me," he crossed his arms across his chest, immaturely. A few seconds past and he realized that I wasn't going to tell him. "Well, get in line! Just 'cause you were here once and saved Olympus or whatever, doesn't mean you get an immediate free pass!"

Then three Furies materialized in front of us: Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. "Lord Hades has requested the boy to be brought to him immediately."

Charon scowled at me and gestured for me to follow them. I slowly walked towards the Furies, unsure. Furies are never trustable, so yeah, I was nervous.

Alecto held out her hand. I stared at it. "Unless you want to be stuck here forever, take my hand," she hissed.

I took it, but before I took it, I grinned at Charon. "Looks like I do get an immediate free pass."

Black smoke appeared and I began to move. It felt a lot like shadow-traveling, except with Nico or Mrs. O' Leary, they went _fast. _

Right before I disappeared with the three Furies, I swore I heard Charon yell, "Ask Hades for a pay raise for me again? I've just discovered pure Chinese silk suits and they are _amazing_ and _so _in season!"

My feet touched the ground again and I blinked several times and coughed. I saw Hades sitting on his throne, scowling at me, his dark eyes criticizing me.

"We brought him, my Lord," Tisiphone hissed and stood beside him with her sisters.

"Yes, yes, job well done," he said.

The Furies bowed. They bowed so low that their eyelashes probably touched the ground.

"Well, Nephew..." mused Hades.

"Hello, Uncle," I swallowed.

"Looks like you finally died! Funny how the Minotaur killed you, eh?" he chuckled.

The Furies chuckled along with him, sending shivers down my spine.

"Your Father holds me to an oath that you _will _be in Elysium, so..." he gestured toward Alecto, "bring the insufferable boy to Elysium where all his little deceased friends reside."

_Beckendorf? Silena? _I thought, brightening up.

"As you wish, my Lord," Alecto said.

She turned towards me and offered her hand again. I took it again, more comfortable this time, since I heard Hades give the order and she would never disobey her beloved Lord.

"Oh, Jackson? You have one month to decide whether you'd like to be reborn or not."

You know, it doesn't feel like I'm dead. Nope, not at all.

* * *

**A/N: I was searching up fanfics for Percy getting killed and being reborn and couldn't find any, so I decided to write my own! Yay! Anyway, hope you like the first chapter. **

**Read and review, please!  
**


	2. I Go to Elysium

**I Am Percy Jackson**

**Chapter 2: **I Go to Elysium

* * *

Alecto and I landed in Elysium a few seconds later. My legs were wobbly, but Alecto offered no help to me. But then again, if she offered some help to me, I would've been a little freaked out.

Okay, I would've been really freaked out. I mean, Furies are supposed to be mean and bad, right? They are Hades's personal _torturers_. And those are not pretty words.

Even though I've seen Elysium a few years ago, it still amazes me. Big houses and green trees were spread out everywhere. Victorian mansions and medieval castles stood on green hills, looking majestic from my view. The smell of barbecue drifted in my nose. People walked around with bright smiles on their faces.

Once I realized exactly how much people were here walking around, I got sad. I already knew this, but it's just still so depressing how there's so few people in the world that did good things in their life.

Looking at this and the Fields of Asphodel and the Fields of Punishment, Elysium looked like a really small, peaceful town and the Fields of Asphodel and the Fields of Punishment looked like Los Angeles that was way over packed with people and dangerous gangs. Why are there so few people out of almost 7 billion people that are good?

Sorry. I'm making this more depressing, aren't I?

Anyway, past the big houses, I saw a huge beach that seemed to never end. The sun shone on the beautiful, blue waters. The sparkling water seemed to beckon towards me. I suddenly had the urge to run away from Alecto right now and jump into the water, fully-clothed.

To the far right, I saw the Isles of the Blest. Amazingly, it looked even more tempting and beautiful than Elysium from my eyes. Although, it is expected to be better since only people who reborn 3 times and got to Elysium each time can get there. And yes; sadly, even fewer people are in the Isles of the Blest.

I heard a hiss behind me. I guess Alecto didn't like all the happiness that Elysium seems to be giving out.

"We are here. Good-bye, Percy Jackson and hope that we shall never cross each others paths again," she hissed as if eager to get out of Elysium as soon as possible. Without looking, I heard her disappear into a puff of black smoke.

I shrugged. I wanted her to leave anyway. Having a Fury with you isn't exactly pleasant company.

Then I thought of something. Where do I stay? Is there already a little house prepared for me?

I couldn't help, but imagine Hades in a yellow construction suit with a big hammer in his hand. Yeah, I have a weird mind.

"Percy!"

"Is that you?!"

I turned around and saw a girl with shimmering blonde hair and a big, buff boy holding her hand.

"Silena? Beckendorf?!" I yelled, moving towards them.

Their eyes brightened up and started to come towards me too. "PERCY!"

We reached each other in a minute. Silena immediately engulfed me into a big hug. She tugged on Beckendorf's hand to join us in our mini group hug. Beckendorf looked a bit uncomfortable at first, but he complied with his girlfriend's wishes at the end.

Suddenly, Silena let go and bit her lip nervously. "Did we win?" she whispered.

Confusion crossed my face and I looked between her and Beckendorf. "Didn't more people from the war come to Elysium to tell you guys?"

"They did, but they chose to be reborn before we got to ask them," Beckendorf said.

"Oh," I said.

"So, did we win?" Silena repeated, her eyes switching colors.

"Yeah," I grinned. "Yeah, we did. We won. We beat Kronos."

The two of them began to grin so wide that I was a bit afraid.

"I knew you could do it," said Silena.

I looked down at my worn out shoes that was a bit covered in dirt. "Yeah, well, I couldn't have done it without you guys. And somebody else, too."

Silena blushed. "About the Kron–"

"It's alright, we all forgive you," I interrupted.

Silena bit her lip. "So...who was the "somebody else"? Annabeth?" she winked.

I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks. "No, not Annabeth. But she did help," I smiled. "The "somebody else" was Luke."

"Luke?!" they gasped in shock. They looked at me with disbelief on their faces.

"Yeah. He died a hero," I smiled.

"B-but, how?!" spluttered out Silena.

And so how I told them about the second Giant War, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and the sacrifice Luke made for us at the end. He was the hero, not me. He was the demigod the phrophecy was talking about. Kronos was sent back to Tartarus into millions of pieces when Luke stabbed him.

For reasons I didn't know, Silena started sobbing in the middle of the story. She said something about romance? I shrugged it off, thinking it to be normal daughter of Aphrodite behavior.

After I finished talking, both Beckendorf and Silena agreed that Luke was a hero even if he did make some really foolish mistakes in his life. Although, I could see that they hesitated when they called Luke a hero. Truthfully, I don't blame them. I asked them if they saw Luke come to Elysium and they said that he probably chose to be reborn the moment he stepped foot in the Underworld.

"I don't mean to pry, but...Percy Jackson, how in the world did you die?" asked Silena. "You have almost as much lives as a cat!" she exclaimed, completely serious.

My face immediately fell. Images of the camp on fire and all those monsters coming in danced across my waking me up. Campers falling. My promise to Grover. Annabeth...dangling down from the Minotaur. Annabeth's tears. Annabeth's gray eyes. Annabeth telling me to run.

Beckendorf must've have noticed the torn expression on my face because he nudged Silena lightly. "Hey, man, it's alright if you don't want to talk about it," he said.

I looked at their concerned faces and looked back down at my shoes. "Thanks."

"We could leave you to your thoughts..." said Silena, twirling a strand of her hair.

I nodded, blinking back tears. I wasn't sure that Beckendorf and Silena would know what to do with me if I suddenly started bawling. It felt like a sad, stormy, dark cloud was above my head, feeding on my pain. _Annabeth_, _my girlfriend. Grover, my best friend. Tyson, my baby brother. And well, pretty much everybody in camp. _

I felt their presence there. I knew Beckendorf and Silena still stood there like they wanted to say something, but wasn't sure if they should interrupt my moment of...grieving, I guess. So I did some kind of motion with my hand, gesturing for them to speak.

"Percy," said Silena.

"If you'd like to talk anytime soon..." said Beckendorf, "we're here if you'd like to talk."

And a bit of the invisible dark cloud that was hovering above my head–disappeared.

* * *

We ate dinner at the beach in front of a fire. Even though we were considered as dead, we still had to sacrifice some of our food to the gods.

We talked while we ate. Well, actually, more like Silena and Beckendorf talked. I was lost in my thoughts the whole time. I quietly watched the sun go down, but the air was still warm. It wasn't cold like it should be, with the sun gone and all. But then again, this is _Elysium_.

I looked at Beckendorf's back. He was facing Silena, talking with her animatedly, their hands moving everywhere as they talked.

I cleared my throat. "Hey."

Beckendorf stopped talking and turned around to face me, raising an eyebrow.

"So...it's um, getting late...and I don't exactly have a house..." I trailed off.

Beckendorf chuckled with amusement, the fire dancing in his eyes. "I was wondering when you would ask that. Don't worry Percy, you can stay with me and Silena. We have a spare room."

"The two of you live together?" I blurted.

They blushed, their cheeks were slightly pink. I found it kinda funny seeing a big, buff guy like Beckendorf blush, but I didn't comment on it, forcing my mouth to keep shut. "Yes," Silena squeaked. Then she frowned. "Yes," she repeated in a more proper voice.

I grinned at them and another question flew out. I have a tendency to say things without thinking about them. "So...can you get married in Elysium?"

Silena's eyes grew wide. With horror or excitement, I couldn't tell.

Beckendorf was now really red. Really red as in I've never seen a man that red before. Not even when my old step-father, Gabe Ugliano, was that red when he was drunk.

His face expression seemed to be screaming, _Oh gods, someone please duct tape Percy's mouth!_

I felt bad for the guy, so I shut up, but I continued grinning. I couldn't help it. Their faces were hilarious! Especially Beckendorf's! Silena looked like she was on Cloud 9 at the thought of marrying her Charlie.

"Since we're done eating, we should go now, huh?" Beckendorf cleared his throat, his eyes looking at everything, but Silena. She was staring at her left hand as if imagining a ring sitting on the finger next to the pinky finger.

"Sure, why not?" I said, getting up and brushing the sand off my pants.

* * *

The house Beckendorf built was amazing. The outside of the house was painted like the color of mahogany. Two pine trees stood at the side with a hammock in the middle. It casted a good shadow over the hammock.

Inside the house, the walls were painted a pale cream color. Simple, but pretty. The kitchen and the living room was in the same room as each other. That part sort of reminded me of my old apartment back in New York, but it wasn't as elegant as this.

The floors were soft and clean and the stoves, tables–everything–was squeaky clean that it was practically shining. Past the kitchen and the living room, was a hallway with a big bathroom with two sinks, a big mirror, a shower, and a bathtub at the side. But past the bathroom, was the bedrooms.

Apparently Silena and Beckendorf didn't share a bedroom.

The hallway turned and there were the three rooms. One room was on the left side and another room was at the left side. In the middle of the hallway, was the Guest Room, which I suppose was my room. I peeked inside the room on the left and I immediately knew it was Silena's room because Beckendork didn't really struck me as the type of guy who would paint their whole room pink.

"So what do you think of it?"

I turned around and saw Silena leaning against the wall, holding a bright, red apple in her hands.

"It's amazing," I breathed. "Simple, but amazing. How did Beckendorf do all this?"

"It is amazing," Silena agreed. "And because, well, it's Charlie. Of course he can do this!"

I laughed and began to walk towards my room. Silena followed me in.

I tried to hold in a gasp at my room. There were waves painted along the walls and it felt like...the sea. Like I was home at sea. There was a queen sized bed in the middle, with blue blankets neatly made on it. On the side of the bed, there was a small table with a photo frame on it.

I turned it around and saw Camp Half-Blood with all the campers. There was me, Annabeth, and Grover smiling and goofing around in the center front row. Well, more like it was me and Grover goofing around. Annabeth was smiling and shaking her head at us.

A ghost of a smile graced my face. I wish I had the chance to say good-bye to them, but I guess the Fates doesn't like me very much.

"You're never going to be happy here. Not if she isn't here with you," spoke up Silena, plucking invisible lint from her gray cardigan.

"What?" I turned around to face her.

There was a sad, knowing smile on her face.

"Annabeth," she said.

My eyes hardened and I froze. "What," I swallowed, "do you mean?"

"Even if you're in Elysium, you'll never be fully happy. Not if you're here without the one you love."

"I–I d–don't lo—" I spluttered, blushing madly. I was 100% sure that my face was as red as Beckendorf's was.

"Love her?" Silena said.

I looked at the walls behind her, but couldn't seem to bring myself to nod my head.

She winked knowingly. "Oh, but you do!"

"I...I..." I stammered, biting my lip.

"Continue..." Silena gestured.

I stared at her. She stared back.

"Okay, fine. I love her."

"Her?"

"I love Annabeth Chase!"

"And...?"

"And sadly, you're right. Elysium won't be Elysium without Annabeth..."

"Good job!" Silena clapped her hands, acting as if I was a baby who just took his first steps.

I sat down on the bed, crinkling the neatly made blanket. "What do I do?" I groaned, fighting the urge to pull my hair.

Silena arched an eyebrow at me. "I've always wondered why Annabeth called you Seaweed Brain."

"Hey!" I said. "And...sorry, but can you not call me that? It's just only..._Annabeth_!"

I'm pretty sure that if she wasn't a daughter of Aphrodite, she wouldn't have got what I said. But since she was, she understood.

"I agree with Mother. The two of you really are the cutest couple ever!" Silena laughed. "Well, that is, except for me and Charlie."

"What is it with you Aphrodite kids about me and Annabeth being the "cutest" couple ever?" I wondered.

Silena shrugged nonchalantly. "Because you guys _are._"

"Okay..." I said, confused.

But then again, I feel confused 90% of the time, so I shrugged it off.

"Silena? Percy?" Came a voice calling from the kitchen.

"We're here, Charlie! In the Guest Room!" Silena called back.

Footsteps began to make its way toward us.

Once Beckendorf stepped inside the room, Silena walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. Then she went on her tip-toes and whispered something in his ear. Aphrodite kids weren't exactly skilled whisperers, so I caught a few words. "Percy...beth...born...Hades..."

"Uh, guys?" I said, feeling a little awkward. "I'm still here, you know." I always felt like a third wheel beside Silena and Beckendorf. I guess it was normal since they were a couple and all, but hey, it's not that fun being a third wheel! It makes you feel like an intruder when you want to speak up.

Silena winked at Beckendorf with a mischievous smile on her face and at the same time, they turned towards me. I had a bad feeling that they were planning something... Well, more like Silena was planning something and Beckendorf was just going along with it to entertain himself. I grumbled under my breath.

"It's getting late," said Beckendorf. "You should get some sleep. I put out some extra toothbrushes and towels in the bathroom. If you need anything else, just call one of us. Night, Percy."

"Er, good-night?" I said, completely, utterly confused.

Beckendorf kissed Silena lightly on the lips and I looked away. When I looked back up, I saw Beckendorf's back retreating down the hallway and the sound of him opening the door to his room.

Silena yawned, bringing my attention back to her. "I should be getting some sleep too."

"You look tired," I agreed with her.

Right when she was almost out the door with her back facing me, she said, "Oh, Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"Think about what Hades last said to you."

And she left, leaving me and my brain to slowly make sense of what she said.

* * *

**And here comes the ending of Chapter 2. (Insert dramatic sigh)**

**Well, I hope you guys like it! **

**Send me some reviews? I'd love to hear some feedback!**


	3. No Happily Ever After for Me

**I Am Percy Jackson**

**Chapter 3: **_No Happily Ever After for Me_

* * *

I found my way back to where we ate dinner last night in the early morning. I recognized the burnt wood we tossed to the side last night.

I walked into the water, breathing in the ocean breeze. It made me feel at home and helped with my headache. I had been up all night thinking about what Silena said to me before she went to sleep. I knew what she was directing at, but I wasn't sure. I mean, I want to be with Annabeth more than anything, but there seems to be so much flaws in the plan.

And flaws are not good. Especially when I have the best luck in the world.

I sighed. I wondered how camp was doing. Was the Golden Fleece back? I knew the monsters had retreated. Don't ask me how, but I just knew the Minotaur and his little cannibal eating friends left after the Minotaur had swallowed me whole. Ugh, just thinking about the Minotaur and his saliva makes me shudder. That guy sure needs to brush his teeth more often.

I ventured in deeper into the waters until it was up to my knees. The calm, sparkling waters immediately made me feel better and it eased some of my anxiety. There were no sea creatures jumping out and about. I sensed that they were still sleeping. Something that I should be doing, but I can't.

Silena's words kept echoing at the back of my head. And then Hades's last words. Reborn, reborn, should I do it?

If I do, then I won't be Percy Jackson anymore. I mean, well, technically I would be, but I would have a different name, a different mom...a different everything. My memories would be completely wiped. I would be somebody else. My soul would stay the same, but my body and memories would be gone.

I would be a baby and Annabeth would be 17 years old. Grover would be in his 30's, at least. Tyson would be 17 too, even Nico would be older! Heck, everybody would be older than me.

Worst of all, if I reborn, I can't exactly travel to Camp Half Blood as a baby. Even if I somehow manage to do so, it would be literally impossible convincing them that I am Percy Jackson. Just imagine a little baby crawling into Camp Half Blood announcing that he is Percy Jackson. Honestly, if I were them, I would not believe that baby.

I resisted the urge to slam my head against a wall right now even if it won't hurt with my Curse of Achilles.

When did everything become _so _complicated and hard? Wait, don't even ask that, a demigod's life is _always _complicated and hard. But mines is just...a bit more complicated than other demigods, unfortunately.

I lifted my eyes up and scanned my surroundings. A feeling came over me. I felt something that I haven't felt for a long time. A very long time. I felt at...peace. Peace. I didn't have to worry if there's a monster stalking me every second. And it felt good. Maybe it won't be that bad living in Elysium with Silena and Beckendorf. I'll miss Annabeth and the rest of my friends, but I'll see them eventually, right?

Truthfully, I wasn't so sure.

I ran my hand through my dark hair. This was too early in the morning to be thinking about this. Plus, thinking wasn't my thing. It was more of a child of Athena thing.

Like Annabeth, a daughter of Athena.

"Stop invading my thoughts!" I muttered under my breath, walking out of the water.

Since I still had my water powers (which was amazing, since I'm technically dead and all), I was dry, so no sand stuck onto my feet. I always hated it when all the sand stuck onto my feet whenever I played at the beach when I was younger. It was uncomfortable and annoying.

* * *

As the sun began to rise fully and more people appeared, I slowly trudged back to Silena and Beckendorf's house. I found the people of Elysium really interesting to watch. If you like people watching, then I suggest you do something heroic in your life right now, so you would end up in Elysium. People dressed like they were from the Medieval period or the Renaissance era. Well, they probably _were _from those time periods, but there were also people who wore pajamas, hippie clothing, formal clothing, the things that clowns wore in carnivals, and well, pretty much every clothing style there is.

I pushed open the door to the house quietly and stepped inside. I knew Silena cared a lot for neatness and cleanliness, so I took off my black Converses and placed them neatly on the white shoe holder.

As I walked into the kitchen, my stomach growled. I really, really wanted to eat an enchilada right now.

And just like that my mood became negative. Enchiladas. Grover. Grover was a satyr, he wouldn't be able to come to Elysium. I remembered our first quest clearly. He had said that satyrs wasn't like humans. Satyrs had no souls. Once they died, they would be reincarnated.

I looked up at the ceiling in frustration. Do you ever get that moment where everything is just so confusing and frustrating that you just want to yank all your hair off?

"So where did you go earlier?" Came a male voice behind me.

I turned around and saw Beckendorf opening a cabinet and taking a box of cereal out. "What?" I said.

"You're not exactly the quietest person in the world," Beckendorf said. "Makes me wonder how you got away with so much monsters," he mused.

"Hey!" I protested. "And I just went down to the beach. I still have my powers," I smiled.

"Yeah, pretty cool huh? It'll stay with you until you reborn," he said. "Want some cereal?" Beckendorf was eating cereal out of the box with no milk. I glanced at the box and saw that it was Lucky Charms. "Got any blue marshmallows?"

He peered inside the box and shook his head. "I think Silena went through this and ate all the blue marshmallows..." he frowned.

"It's okay," I shrugged. A question popped into my mind, but I wasn't exactly sure how to say it. I plopped on a chair and began fidgeting with my fingers. I blame the ADHD.

"Just ask whatever you want, Percy."

"How did you know?"

"I'm ADHD too, you know."

I nodded. "So...uh..." I trailed off, trying to piece the question together.

"Yeah?"

"When you...erm...died, did you ever want to be reborn when you came here?" I asked, leaning forward, eager to know his answer.

"I think almost everybody here did."

"But why didn't they? No, why didn't _you_?"

"I was going to. I mean, I was at the edge of the River Lethe; less than 5 feet away from the churning waters. I was ready to ju–"

"Why didn't you?" I interrupted, my foot tapping against the floor. ...Yeah, I blame the ADHD this time too.

"Silena. She literally popped out of nowhere," he chuckled.

"Oh." My mouth was shaped into an _o_ shape.

He flicked his eyes toward me. "It wasn't our time yet. I think I'm around Silena a bit _too_ much, but we just _knew_ it wasn't our–me and Silena's–time yet. Our lives ended too soon in the world above, so we felt that we were meant to stay _here_, in Elysium, together. Here in Elysium, we can make up for the time we lost. Not forever, of course, but a decade at least."

Then for a second I think I might've had satyr ears because I swore I heard him mumble, "Love can make you do a _lot_ of things..."

But I didn't comment on it.

Anyway, since I was me, I didn't really know exactly what to say, so I just said, "Yeah, I think you've been hanging around Silena a bit too much."

He laughed. "But I like her company!"

I laughed too. "I guess that you would."

He grinned and smiled to himself, but looked back at me. "Any more questions?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm gonna go to my room."

"But you didn't eat breakfast yet, right?" he asked, taking out a handful of Lucky Charm and popping some in his mouth.

"I did eat," I lied.

"Well, okay then." He raised his eyebrows a bit.

I got up from my chair and turned midway away from the table.

"Percy?"

I turned back around. "Yeah?"

"I don't give the best advice for these kind of things, but...just do whatever feels right, man," Beckendorf said. "I don't know how, but all the choices you make always seem to turn out good at the end," he chuckled.

I cracked a smile at that. Thinking back on all my quests, my really dumb choices turned out to be okay at the end. "Thanks."

"And on your way, mind waking up Silena? We sorta have something planned," he mumbled.

I cracked a grin. "Sure. Have fun on your date."

* * *

If it weren't for the waves that looked so realistic painted on the walls of my room, I think I would've gone completely and utterly insane with thinking.

"It'd be nice if you offered some advice, Dad," I prayed, burying my head into the blanket. I didn't know if the gods still listened to my prayers even though I was dead.

But I was still secretly hoping that something would fall down from the sky to give me some help. But nothing came.

"Help, help, help," I muttered.

Why couldn't my life be more like Perseus, the son of Zeus? I was jealous that he got a happy ending and I didn't. Looks like having my name being Perseus didn't guarantee a happily ever after, Mom.

You're probably thinking that I do have a happy ending, but sorry to disappoint you, but no, I don't. Sure, Elysium is nice. Beckendorf and Silena are great friends, but I didn't feel...happy.

I remember when I was in elementary school and my teacher had asked us what we wanted to be when we were older. I told the teacher that I wanted to be happy.

What does a demigod have to do to be happy? Depression, deaths, and monsters aren't exactly good things to have in life.

I sighed dramatically and grabbed the photo that was on the desk. I stared at Annabeth for who knows how long. I wondered what she would do if she were me right now. Would she decided to take a dip in the River Lethe? Or would she not?

Then I looked around me and realization finally dawned on me. This was the first time in many years, I realized. The first time where Annabeth wasn't here. My sea-green eyes darkened. She had always be there ever since we were 11 years old. She would always be chattering about plans and architecture. She would always be nagging me and like what Grover would say–she'd be a like an "old mama goat." In all the situations, all the quests we've been in, all problems we had, Annabeth was always there to solve it. My eyes closed and I clutched the blanket closer to me. But, right now, there was no Annabeth here to solve anything.

She wasn't here. She was up there in the world, _alive._

The next time I would see her, she would be married, old, and have grandchildren. The negative, devil voice in me whispered, "And you won't be the guy who she grows old with."

_No, shut up! _I pushed the devil away mentally.

I set the photo back down, casting my eyes away from Annabeth. I missed her. I missed her startling gray eyes. How I felt every time she looked at me, as if analyzing how to take me down in battle. I missed the way she would tease me and call me Seaweed Brain every once in a while. I missed the way she would kiss me every time I did something incredibly stupid.

I took a deep breath and started to fan myself. I was going to suffocate if I was in this room for another second.

I let go of the blanket and took a step forward when suddenly the corner of my room became dark. Like, really dark.

The next second, a figure dressed all in black stepped out and started having a massive coughing fit for a full five minutes.

Naturally, my mouth fell open and I stared. Either I'm hallucinating and I am finally going insane, or this is real, and Nico di Angelo just popped in.

* * *

**Whee, chapter 3! And I just had to put in the part of Annabeth kissing Percy every time he did something stupid cause of _Son of Neptune_, haha. **  
**Yay Nico! I'm pretty sure he could go inside Elysium, so I just had to put him there. :'D**

**Happy St. Patrick's Day! Be sure to wear green! **

**Thanks to all the people who reviewed. You're awesome and don't forget that. :P**


	4. Let's Confuse Percy Day

**I Am Percy Jackson**

**Chapter 4: **_Let's Confuse Percy Day_

* * *

Not knowing what to do, I stared. And I'm not sure how long I stared. Oh, sure, I might've looked calm and emotionless on the outside, but in the inside I was completely freaking out. But tell me, wouldn't you be freaking out if one of your close friends appeared out of nowhere in freaking _Elysium_? _Elysium_. The beautiful land of the _dead_. Dead. D-E-A-D.

I watched as he collapsed to the ground with sweat running down his face. His eyes looked up at me and shot his arm out weakly. "It'd be nice to get some help."

I didn't move. Instead I stood there like an idiot with my mouth hanging open. "Nico?"

"Who else can come to Elyisum?" He rolled his eyes.

When I still didn't move, he sighed heavily. "Look, are you going to help me up or not? Because my arm is about to fall off and I don't have a lot of strength at the moment." Then he mumbled, "Who knew traveling to Elysium could take up so much energy?"

I nodded numbly and slowly walked over to him. At first I thought that this was just a weird figment of my imagination that felt real and that once I touched Nico, he would disintegrate and disappear. Slowly, I walked over to Nico di Angelo because...well, he looked like he was dying of exhaustion over there.

I offered my arm to him, completely sure that once he touched it, he would disappear. But, thank the gods, that didn't happen. If he did disappear, it would've been proof that I've finally cracked and went insane.

He clutched onto my hand and I stumbled backwards, surprised at the 13 year old's strength. "You're real!" I blurted. And then I did what I did before. I stared. Yes, I was still in shock. My brain was still functioning all this and I am kind of a slow thinker. Although, on the bright side, I'm a fast fighter and that's a much more important skill to have as a demigod. ...Don't tell Annabeth or any of her siblings that.

"Yeah, I'm real," he said, looking at me with a puzzled look on his face. "Were you expecting me to be fake or something?"

After a few moments, he shifted uncomfortably on his feet. His eyes were darting back and forth; to my bed and me. There were dark bags under his eyes, as if he didn't sleep for days. I could tell that he wanted to just jump onto the bed and sleep, but since I was here, he couldn't.

"You can stop staring at me now. It's really not that weird," he complained.

I blinked and shook my head. Yep, he was still there. "But...wait, are you dead, too?"

He snorted and shook his head. "No."

"Then how'd you get here?" I asked.

His body began to move and forth, like he was going to faint from exhaustion any moment. "Uh, you could go sit down," I suggested.

He blew his hair out of his eyes, revealing a thick, shiny layer of sweat. He trudged over to the bed and collapsed down on it. He was spread out in an angel-like position on the messily made blanket. I had wrinkled the blankets earlier. "This smells weird."

"What?"

"Your bed. It smells weird."

"And again, I say _what_?"

"It smells like the ocean and salt. Gross."

"Are you saying that I stink? If you are, you could get off my bed," I said dryly.

He got up and straightened his back. "No thanks," he grinned. "This may smell, but it's comfortabe, and I'm tired."

I rolled my eyes. "You still didn't answer my question. How'd you get here?" I repeated.

"I'm the son of Hades," he explained. "Elysium is in the Underworld and the Underworld is almost practically mine."

"Oh..._oh_, yeah!" I exclaimed, finally piecing it all together. "You can come to Elysium too?" Hope was beginning to grow in my chest. If Nico could do that...

"Yes," he grimaced. "I just found out I could, though. It takes away like 95% of my energy, so if you're thinking that I can bring Annabeth along then, no, I cannot do that."

"I wasn't thinking that!" I lied, crossing my arms on my chest.

"Sure," he raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm no satyr, but you're not a good liar, Percy."

I scowled at him. He grinned.

"So why are you here? Did somebody send you here?" I asked.

"Like I listen to anybody," he scoffed.

"Right, of course. This is big, bad, dark Nico di Angelo!" I exclaimed sarcastically.

"Don't even go there," he warned. There was a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Well, when I found out I could go to Elysium, Annabeth," he shrugged his shoulders, "kinda kicked me out of camp."

I laughed at his expression, but then my laughter quickly ceased. "Nico, did she, er, well...did anybody give you a message or something?"

"Grover was out taking care of the wild and Thalia was with the Hunters, so nobody except Annabeth knows that I could go to Elysium," Nico said thoughtfully. "But Annabeth did say something..."

"What? What did she say?" I tried to act like I didn't care much, but judging by Nico's smirk on his face; apparently, I'm not a good actor.

His eyebrows knitted together into a confused look. "She said: "Percy, choose whatever you think is best. Everything that you do always end up alright in the end."

She knows me so well, I thought.

"What do you think she means?" asked Nico.

"I don't know," I lied.

Nico raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything. Then he yawned and his right hand covered his mouth. "You know what? I'm just gonna go sleep. Tell me when you've figured what your girlfriend said. Night."

Then he fell on his back on the bed with his eyes already closed. I remembered what he said when I was about to bathe in the River Styx last year: "_With great power...comes great need to take a nap._" I stifled a laugh and bit my tongue.

* * *

I slipped out of my room and closed the door gently. Then I paced back and forth in the small hallway. A question then popped into my mind. I almost smacked myself in the head for forgetting to ask Nico. I almost marched back into my room to wake up Nico, but then I decided against it. One thing I know about him was that he was not a happy person to wake up. He might send an army of skeletons after me. Do you know how scary that would be? I shuddered.

I thought about Annabeth's message. Did she seriously expect me to make a decision? I wanted to stay here. I love it here. I really do. But then it also doesn't feel _right_. It sounds stupid, I know, but I just can't explain it.

I was now facing the door of my room and I turned around, thinking to get a water bottle from the kitchen. I ran my hand through my black hair and made my way out to the kitchen when suddenly I hear a door creak open.

"Percy!" yelled a voice that I identified as one Nico di Angelo.

"Yeah?" I called back.

He dashed towards me, but his eyes were looking everywhere. He looked as if a ghost was going to pop up and kidnap him.

"Uh, are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"No, I gotta go!" He shook his head. There was still a drowsy, sleepy look in his dark brown eyes.

"What? But you haven't even been here for 45 minutes! Plus, you're tired!" I exclaimed.

"Dad's looking for me and I'm not allowed to be here."

"What do you mean? Can't you go anywhere in the Underworld except for Tartarus?"

"No," he hesitated. "There are limits to everything. You, out of all people, should know that."

"So...you have to go?"

"Yeah, but I'll be back. Or, well, maybe not. Who knows?"

"You better come back or I'll tell Hades you came here," I threatened.

Nico snorted. "Yeah, right. You can't just summon my dad whenever you like." But he looked a little scared.

"Wait, before you go, how's Anna–?"

"Sorry, gotta go! It's really not that fun getting turned into a dandelion. Don't believe me, go try it. Bye!"

Then he vanished, leaving no hints that he was ever there.

I groaned and resisted the urge to kick the wall. Beckendorf would know and I don't think he would like that.

My only source of accurate information on what was going on in the living world was gone. And Nico di Angelo's visit didn't really help either. I'm still as confused as ever.

* * *

Somehow, I ended back up on the beach. I noticed that not many people were on the beach. Strange. Back in the mortal world, beaches were always packed and full of people.

A couple of people had set up umbrellas and were tanning. I hated tanning, but it must only be because I was a demigod. If it was hard to stay still in class for 10 minutes, then staying still in the sun for more than 30 minutes would be absolute torture. Having ADHD sucks, but it's part of the package of the miserable life of being a demigod.

A fuchsia colored rock was near my feet. It was just 3 feet away from me. I don't know what, but something compelled me to walk over there and pick it up. I bended down and picked it up. I ran my finger across the rock and was surprised. Rocks were supposed to be lumpy and ugly, right? This rock was like gold. Smooth, beautiful, and rich looking. It reminded me of something. Or someone...

It was weird, but I brushed off that thought immediately. I don't think that person can come here anyway. It would be against the laws.

But I guess this person didn't care much for the laws because of what happened a second later.

A bright light began to appear in front of me and began to the shape of a beautiful woman. She had on a pale, thin, white, beach dress that reached her knees and then it sort of flowed behind her. A small gold tiara rested on her golden colored hair. Golden necklaces and bracelets also decorated her body. She reminded me of Annabeth–without all the accessories—but I knew it wasn't.

I got down on my left knee and bowed. "Lady Aphrodite."

"Rise, Perseus Jackson," she said. Her voice was like tinkling bells. Like the ones at weddings. It was ironic, considering that she was the goddess of love.

I slowly got up. "Uh, w-what are you doing here? Lady Aphrodite," I added. Even though I've seen Aphrodite before, her beauty is still shocking. It's like she's charmspeaking without needing to speak. And no, I do not Aphrodite is prettier than Annabeth, so don't worry. I'm not going to run off into the sunset with Aphrodite just because she was beautiful. Plus Ares might slaughter me if I did that.

Oh wait, he can't slaughter me. I'm already dead... My heart sunk because of the reminder.

She arched a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "And what are you trying to say, Perseus?"

"N-Nothing! I-It's just that...well, isn't it illegal–against the law for a god or goddess that isn't Hades to...come to the Underworld?" I stuttered.

She laughed softly. "Have you been listening to Annabeth lately? And," she put her index finger to her lips, "what Father and Uncle Hades don't know, won't hurt them." She winked at me and giggled like she was a schoolgirl who just told me her crush.

"It's almost impossible to _not _listen to Annabeth. Her glare can be pretty scary," I muttered. Then I cleared my throat. "Uh, are you sure? I don't want you to, er, get in trouble." It was true. Aphrodite was pretty troubling and scary, but I like her. She was also one of the few gods or goddesses that actually liked me, too. I honestly don't know how I angered so much gods and goddesses. Things just happen...without me thinking.

Aphrodite cooed. "Aw, you care about me! You're so sweet. But you don't need to worry about me. The problem here is you."

"Uh..." I don't know when I started sweating, but my face felt pretty hot right now. "Thanks? And problem? Me? What? I didn't do anything!"

I started panicking inside. I heard that if Aphrodite despised you, then you might've as well signed your death certificate.

"Yes," she smiled. "You are torn between the decision of being reborn?"

"Ye–"

"Yes, I heard your prayers. Your father came to me when you prayed."

I felt one stormy cloud being lift from my head. My dad didn't ignore me. He had heard my prayers.

"So...what should I do?" I asked, trying to act nonchalant.

"Personally, I think you should go for a swim," she shrugged.

"You want me to go jump into the beach right now?" I asked blankly, gesturing towards the water.

"No, no, not that kind of swim."

"Then...oh..." I trailed off into thought. I finally got her point. Take a swim... I stared at her feet. Her golden heels looked a bit out of place in the beach. To tell you the truth, I was a bit afraid to look at her face because of her eyes. Call me crazy and weak, but I was a bit afraid of her eyes. What if she could charmspeak through her kaleidoscope eyes? There's no telling what kind of powers the goddess of love has.

"Ahh!" Aphrodite squealed quietly. "This has to be the most tragic love story ever since Helen and Paris! Oooh, I can't wait to watch all this unfold!"

"Um, love story?" I asked timidly.

"Yes, of course. Why else would I be here?"

She didn't let me reply. Which was a good thing too because I didn't really know what to say without angering the goddess.

"For you and Annabeth, of course!"

"Me...and Annabeth?"

"Mhm," she winked, whipping out a mirror and lipstick with a snap of her fingers.

"But...that's...impossible," I said slowly.

"Not if you–and I repeat–_take a swim_!"

"Wait, hold on. What exactly is going on in the world?"

Aphrodite held up a hand and finished applying a fresh layer of fuchsia colored lipstick. "That, Perseus, is for me to know, and for you to find out."

"How can I find out?" I asked dumbly.

"Goodness," Aphrodite sighed, but then a smile graced her face again. "_Swim_! S-W-I-M!" she spelled out, as if I was a kindergartener.

"But it won't work out, Lady Aphrodite," I responded.

"And why ever not?"

"Because I'll be a baby and Annabeth...well, she won't exactly be the same age as me," I rationalized.

"That's where you're wrong, dear," she said.

_What? What does she mean? Is today Let's Confuse Percy! day? _I thought.

Before I could get her angry, I responded with a, "No, wait, you're absolutely right. I_ should _take a swim."

She looked at me, as if she was calculating me. It sort of reminded me of Annabeth. _Annabeth_. I sighed, but if Aphrodite noticed, she didn't say anything.

"Good to know you're seeing sense," she smiled brightly, showing all her teeth.

"Yeah...Me, seeing sense...sure, yeah..." I nodded along with her.

"Oh! My time here is up. Uncle Hades will be done talking with his wife and son in a minute. And Father and Uncle Poseidon was talking earlier, but it seems that the meeting has ended." She looked disappointed and a small pout found its way to her lips. "It has been nice talking with you, Perseus. I will not say good bye because I feel we will be meeting very soon. You should take the little swim by next week, I expect. If you don't take that swim, I don't think you would enjoy what would happen next. Take care for now, Perseus Jackson." Then she swooped down and kissed me gently on the forehead and then on the cheek. It felt like I was floating on top of fluffy clouds that were just above Wonderland. My eyes closed.

When I opened them again, the goddess of love had vanished, leaving nothing behind, but the smell of strong perfume. It reminded me of the perfume mortal girls buy at Victoria's Secret. "Um, thank you? Lady Aphrodite," I added after she left.

Suddenly the scent of perfume got stronger and I took that as _You're Welcome_ or something.

What did she mean by "If you don't take that swim, I don't think you would enjoy what would happen next?" How confusing. Confusing. Seems like I've been using that word a _lot _lately.

I knew not to disobey Aphrodite, but in my brain, it won't make sense if I reborn. Like, how in the Hades will I be able to get together with Annabeth if I'm a baby? It'll be wrong and...just not right.

I had until next week. Which means that I have to have a talk with Hades by tonight. From what I hear from Nico's rants sometimes, the Underworld is extremely packed and busy, so tonight was the perfect time.

I heard some girly giggles and a manly laugh. I turned around and the couple that were laughing noticed me.

"Oh, hey, Percy," smiled Beckendorf, giving me a small wave.

"Hi," I waved back awkwardly.

Silena looked at me suspiciously. "My mother was here," she finally stated.

"Um, yes," I said.

Then she smiled as if she was sharing a secret between her and Aphrodite. "You should listen to her. I'll help you get in contact with him."

"Her? Contact? Him...?" asked Beckendorf, firing one word questions toward us.

"But I–"

"Oh, hush, children of Aphrodite always knows what's best when it comes to these things," she put her finger to her mouth in a _Shh _motion.

"So you're saying that I should not think and just follow whatever you say," I said.

"Well..." She thought for a moment. "Yes, basically, yeah," she grinned.

I stared at her. "Call me insane right now, but I'm thinking the same thing too. So, how do I get in contact with him?"

"Let's go home first, I have something there," she said, with a knowing look in her eyes.

"Um, okay," I raised my eyebrows.

* * *

We began walking back to Beckendorf and Silena's house. I can't call it _my _house or home because technically, it isn't mine.

On the way back, Beckendorf finally spoke up. "Okay, can someone please tell me what's going on?"

It was rude, but I ignored him. Anxiety and worry was eating me up mentally. If I talked, much less utter one word right now, I may do something I'll regret later. Silena moved closer to her boyfriend and started explaining in hushed whispers.

When she finished talking, Beckendorf looked as if he wanted to say something to me. But Silena quickly shook her head and put her hand over his mouth. "_No_," she mouthed quietly to him.

Once we got inside the house, Silena quickly dashed to her room. In less than a second, she came back, with a hair not out of place. Sometimes I was jealous on how Aphrodite boys/girls never broke a sweat. Or if they did, they didn't look like they were sweating. My weird side is coming out...

"Here," Silena said. She stepped towards me and told me to put my hands out. I did and she placed a small, black pearl in my hands. Then she clasped my hands and stepped back. "There," she said.

I opened my hands and gasped. It was a small pearl. A simple pearl, really. But when you stared at it, you could see waves crashing against jagged rocks. I could practically feel the sea enveloping me and the sounds of the water pounding in my ears.

"What do you see?" asked Silena.

"Waves."

"I knew it!" said Beckendorf.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's different for each person," Silena explained. "Children of Poseidon will see water related things, children of Aphrodite will see love, children of Hephaestus will see fire and repairing, children of Apollo will see music and poetry, and...yeah. You get my point."

"Oh. That's cool," I marveled, still staring at the tiny pearl. "So, what else does this thing do?"

"Didn't Hades give you one of this?" asked Beckendorf, looking at me curiously.

"No, I've never seen this before," I replied. "I wonder why Hades didn't give me one."

Beckendorf shrugged, "Well, just throw the pearl to the ground and it'll give a signal to Hades that you want to be brought to the River Lethe."

"It's that simple?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, cool, huh?" grinned Beckendorf. "I wonder how you make one of those..."

"Yeah, very cool..." I said.

"So when are you going to...throw that?" asked Silena, twirling a strand of her hair. "Can we be there to watch you?"

"Um, when do you think I should do it?"

"My mother says right now," said Silena hesitantly.

"Right now?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." I don't know why, but I suddenly felt sad. It kind of felt like they wanted to send me away... Like they wanted me to leave.

"Percy, it's not like we want you to go. We just want the best for you. And this is the only way," Silena said, smiling sadly.

"Something is going on in the world above. And it has to do with Annabeth," I realized.

"Yes," said Silena. "You're absolutely right."

I lifted my arm and began to open my right hand. It was sudden, but honestly, I just wanted to get this over with. If I don't do it now, I might back out like a weakling and face Aphrodite's wrath. Plus, I knew I was going to see my friends and Annabeth again... Somehow. With Aphrodite's help, I guess.

I didn't want to leave Silena and Beckendorf, but...I don't know. It's all confusing. Not to be cruel or mean, but I didn't feel that bad leaving them. I know they have a happy life here and well, I wasn't that close to them...

"WAIT!" blurted out Silena.

"Wha–?" I started. She rushed over and hugged me. I could see glistening tears in her eyes. "I'll miss you, Percy. I don't want you to go, but I do at the same time. And my mother knows whats best... We'll see each other, in a century or so... If you remember me..." she cried.

"Century? Aren't you and Beckendorf leaving this place in like, a few decades or something?" I asked.

"No, well, you have my pearl and...I...ah," she shrugged, pretending as if it was no big deal.

Realization crossed my face and I gasped. "I can't do this. This is your pearl, I can't–"

"No, you have to," she insisted pushing my hands away. "I can't stop you from being with Annabeth. It'll be like, breaking all laws of being a child of Aphrodite," she muttered.

I raised my eyebrows at her. I still don't understand how Annabeth and I could be together. Seriously. Does it make sense to you? No, right? But somehow, I had faith and trust in her and Aphrodite. Kind of weird, but it's the truth.

"But I–" I hesitated.

"And I'm happy here. With Charlie," she smiled lovingly toward her boyfriend. Beckendorf smiled back. Then he stepped forward and patted me on the shoulder. "You'll do what's right. I know you will," he cleared his throat and I saw that his eyes were a bit shiny, "and we can't deprive you from your happiness. What kind of life will you be living if you're not happy? I–I'll miss you, Percy. You're a great hero and friend."

"Thanks," I sighed. "I wish I could be here longer... I do love it here, I like you guys, you know."

"Stop, Percy. You say you love it here, but you are not _happy_. And that's not right," said Silena fiercely.

I agreed with her mentally. Don't tell her that, though.

"Now, go, throw that thing before my mother makes an appearance or starts ranting in my head," smiled Silena with a tear dropping from her kaleidoscope eyes that just turned gray. Like Annabeth's.

_Annabeth_...

I cleared my head and raised my arm again. Then I let the pearl drop. I watched it fall slowly. The little, simple, thing that just determined my future. Of what I was going to do.

Right before the shadows took me away, I heard Silena and Beckendorf's voices combined together: "We'll see each other again, Percy. Do not worry. Find the road to your happiness; Anna–"

And a soft, yet powerful voice interrupted. It was smooth and I felt like I was drowning in creamy, milk chocolate. "Do not fear or regret. You will do fine, finding the daughter of Athena and your friends along the way, Perseus."

* * *

**Thanks to all the people who reviewed and are enjoying this fanfic!**

**Now...er, review, please? :D**


	5. Invisible Spirits Take My Memories

**I Am Percy Jackson**

**Chapter 5: **Invisible Spirits Take My Memories

* * *

With my luck, I landed on a pile of rocks on my back. I yelped at the pain the rocks caused. My right hand had semi consciously shot out and a few jagged, sharp rocks pricked my fingers.

Since I thought I was at the River Lethe, alone, I cursed out loud in Greek and English combined. If Chiron was here, he would've washed my mouth with soap.

"Language, Nephew, language," drawled a deep voice that sent shivers down my back.

I froze and snapped my mouth shut. Slowly, I shakily got up on my legs and turned around to face the owner of the voice. And plus, I doubt the Lord of the Dead would like it if I was just laying there. He might blow me into pieces. I know Zeus would've.

I walked off the pile of rocks, with Hades watching my every move (which was kind of unnerving), and bowed. "Uncle."

"Coming to reborn so early? Are you not satisfied with Elysium, you selfish boy?" he asked, a bit offended by the thought of me not liking Elysium.

I looked up at him. He wasn't in his giant human form, so that was a good thing. If he was, then that would've been really scary. "No, Elysium's beautiful. It is! I love it there, but...ah," I shrugged. I couldn't exactly tell Hades that a goddess broke a law and I definitely _wouldn't _tell him about Annabeth.

Hades stared at me for a moment with his dark eyes and I shifted on one foot to another. This may sound weird, but I felt like he was staring at my soul. Like all my secrets were pouring out to him. After a few seconds, he sighed.

"Uncle...?" I asked timidly.

"Very well, go," he gestured toward the River Lethe.

I looked towards the river and gulped at the fast, running waters in the river. I remembered the last time I was here. I was with Nico and Thalia to do something Persephone had requested and it wasn't exactly fun or easy to hold up the River Lethe.

"Don't do any funny business with the water," he warned.

"I won't," I mumbled.

"Speak up, boy," he demanded.

"I won't," I said louder, my voice echoing off the dark walls.

When I still stood there like one of Medusa's unfortunate victims, he sighed impatiently, "What are you still doing here?"

"Wait, so...it's that easy to reborn?" I asked. "No special requirements or anything...?"

He scowled at me. "The Underworld is overpopulated. If I wasn't so nice then I would've dumped everybody in the River Lethe by now. Now, go. I do not wish to see your face any longer."

I snorted quietly. Hades, the god of the underworld, nice? If he was nice, then I was a son of Aphrodite.

"It's that simple...? I just...jump in?" I asked incredulously. I always thought being reborn took a lot of time. I mean, your soul is going to be in a new body! A new personality! A new everything. If you ask me, I think all of that takes a lot of time...

"For you, it's that simple," Hades grumbled. "But not for me. I have to get together with Attis and the other rebirth god. Do you know how annoying this is? It takes about a whole week, too!"

"Uh...yes, it's...um, annoying?" I answered.

"It is one of the most annoying things to do! And the fact that _you're _the one that's going to reborn, makes it even more annoying." He shook his oily head, with annoyance radiating off him. "Now when are you going to jump? Wasting time here, boy."

"Wait, one more question: will I be a demigod?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I'll make that decision later."

I eyed him curiously. I kind of hoped that I would be a demigod. I wanted to go to Camp Half Blood and though a demigod's life is never anything, but tragic...I liked it. I like being a demigod. But at the same time I wanted to be a mortal... Wow, yeah, I guess I better leave all this to Hades.

"Well, okay..." I took a step toward the river. "Um, good-bye, Uncle?"

"For Zeus's sake, just go. It won't even hurt," Hades replied.

Well, that was nice. Not even a good-bye from my own immortal, godly, scary uncle.

I took another step closer to the river. Once I jumped, then Hades and the rebirth gods would have control of my next life. They might make me selfish or nice. Conceited or modest. Brave or weak. Ugly or pretty (although I don't care much for looks). And way more. It was a bit scary when you think about it. Having your next life in the gods' hands.

"Nephew, do you need a push?" I heard Hades say.

I turned around. "No! No," I said. "Okay, well..." I turned back around, my body tense, and then I jumped. Into the river. With my few seconds still above the water, I muttered a bunch of prayers to every single god and goddess that I knew of. Even to the ones that I didn't like.

The next thing I knew, my head went down, into the dangerous waters. I tried not to use my powers, so I tried not to let panic overwhelm me. Stupidly, I opened my eyes and I bit down hard on my tongue painfully. The water stung my eyes so bad that I felt like I was going to be blind in my next life.

At first, I thought the water wasn't working it's magic because I still had all my memories intact, but boy was I wrong. How badly I was proven wrong, too. It felt like invisible spirits flew inside my brain and was pulling all my memories out. My hair and clothes were getting pulled in every direction. The faces of my family and friends passed me by and I desperately tried to catch them back with no success.

First went a few campers of Camp Half Blood that I've talked to a couple of times... Then went Chiron, Clarisse, Grover, Tyson, Thalia, Nico... Strangled cries tried to escape my mouth, but it seems that the invisible spirits duct-taped my mouth. ...Silena, Beckendorf, Paul, Mom... My entire body was trembling and salty tears rolled down. When the faces passed by, I didn't know why I was crying.

Many other faces passed me by and then finally, the last one came. _Annabeth_. Her stormy gray eyes stared into my naked soul. She seemed to be talking, but I couldn't hear anything. My hand reached out to her hand, but the second I touched her, she disappeared into nothing.

It went on and on, until I felt like a vulnerable, new-born baby with no memories.

Then I fell. Not literally falling, but it felt like I was drowning. Panic began to take over and I felt a tug at my stomach. I told myself to stop and let it be, but I couldn't seem to listen to myself. My body started floating up and I automatically took a fresh breath of air, and as fast as lightning, all my memories mixed together came flying back. With all the memories rushing back to me, my head exploded and I saw stars. That was when invisible hands pulled me back down into the river and the memories swam away again.

Even though I had no common sense or memories or really, anything, I knew I did something I shouldn't have.

My eyes closed when I was back in the water. When I closed my eyes, I was expecting to see darkness. But no, I saw stars. Normally, if I saw stars, I would go searching for Zoë Nightshade's star, but since I no longer had any more memories of her, I didn't.

It felt like eternity under the river, but then a wave of magic and darkness washed over me. I literally felt something get pulled out of my body and after it got pulled out, I collapsed and fell on the river floor like a limp doll. My last thought that seemed to appear out of nowhere was: _my name is Percy Jackson._

* * *

A week later, in Manhattan, New York, a baby boy with startling sea-green eyes was born in the Lenox Hill Hospital. The baby took one look around and tears began to fall. He began to scream at the top of his lungs, waking up some of the hospital's patients.

A 27 year old male singer walked over to a woman whose beauty could be described as goddess like and the crying child in her arms.

"He's beautiful, Venus," he murmured, staring at the child with fear and love in his eyes.

"He has your eyes, dear," Venus smiled.

"He has your black hair," the man replied.

"His love life will certainly be interesting with his looks," the woman murmured to herself quietly. The man didn't hear the woman. His green eyes was transfixed on the child. His child.

"What are we going to name him?" the man asked, running a sweaty hand through his blond hair.

Venus stared at the child's sea-green eyes for a minute and realization hit her in the face. A mischievous smile graced her fuchsia colored lips and clearly, she said, "Pierce Johnson."

She turned to face the man. "Pierce Johnson," she repeated. "It has a nice ring to it."

"Pierce Johnson, it is," the man agreed, a grin lighting up his face. Then he stroked the baby's cheek that was wet with tears with his right hand and the woman's hair with his left. "We're going to be a family. And you, Pierce, is going to have the best mom in the world," he murmured to himself.

Unintentionally, the woman heard. Her smile slightly dropped, but when she looked back into the baby's eyes, her smile came back and her eyes began to twinkle with secrets.

* * *

**[Majority of this chapter was written with assumptions. I don't know what really happens when you jump into the River Lethe or how your memories get taken, so I pretty much used my imagination to write this whole chapter, haha. And I also don't exactly know how Aphrodite kids are born. Google gave me no answers when I googled, "How are Aphrodite's kids born?" :P]**

***Yes, the POV changed after the line break. The POV might continue being in third person in the next chapter, too, but don't worry, it'll be back to Percy's (or should I say, Pierce's), POV after the next chapter! :D**


	6. My Pen Transforms Into a Sword

**I Am Percy Jackson**

**Chapter 6: **_My Pen Transforms Into a Sword_

* * *

_It felt like the climax of an intense movie. Everything was going in slow motion through my eyes. My ears became deaf to all the sounds surrounding me. The only thing that seemed to be working properly was my eyes. _

_My body froze when I saw a blonde girl fall to the ground. I twisted my body back around and ran like there was no tomorrow to her. _

_"Annabeth!" I cried, clutching her arm. The name came to me immediately as if somebody was whispering an answer to me. _

_My eyes traveled to the demigod standing over her with a bloody knife in his hands. All I could function in my brain right now was that he was trying to stab me and Annabeth saved me by taking the fall. I locked eyes with the demigod. I noticed that he was wearing an eye patch under his war helmet. Ethan Nakamura, a soft voice whispered. _

_Holding my sword angrily, I slammed him in the face so hard that I think I dented his helmet. I wish that I had done more damage. _

_Another guy stepped into the scene. He was blonde, with glowing golden eyes. His eyes sent chills down the back of my spine, but I didn't falter. He gazed at Annabeth's bleeding body on the ground and then at me. "Interesting," he murmured quietly._

* * *

I awoke with a gasp. I felt my forehead and like usual, it was sticky with sweat. My eyes closed and I fell back on my bed. My hair was sticking up in every direction, but I could care less right now.

Ever since I turned 16 last month, I've been getting these strange dreams. It changed every night though. It was never the same dream, but each dream were related to each other. Most of the time, I was battling Ancient Greek monsters that were supposed to be dead and I would always come out victorious at the end. I knew they were Ancient Greek monsters because my dad had a book about them.

On my 16th birthday, my dad gave me the book about the monsters and a simple ballpoint pen. It was weird. My dad never cared about me, much less celebrated my birthday and gave me presents. We were more like strangers who lived in the same house. My dad used to be a famous singer, but he retired when I was 5 years old. Unfortunately, when he retired, he also stopped being a father. He became more like a rich, lazy, mature-ish teenager that forgot that he had a son. He didn't go to bars or become a drunk or was a bad person. He just...stopped being a dad and became extremely lazy. But the lucky kind of lazy. If any normal adult decided to be completely lazy, they would've found themselves below the poverty line the next day.

My dad's a complicated person, that's for sure. He still paid for all the bills and made sure I ate healthily, but other than that, any kind of fatherly personality completely left him. Okay, let's not talk about my dad anymore. Let's talk about his presents instead.

When my dad gave me the book, he insisted that I read it immediately. I stared at him like he was insane because I had ADHD and was dyslexic. It was going to be tough staying in one spot reading.

I reminded him of my dyslexia and he told me to just flip open the book. At first, I thought he was ignoring my disability or something, but when I opened the book, the weirdest thing happened. The entire thing was in Ancient Greek. The only thing that was English was the book. But that wasn't the weirdest thing. The strangest thing was that I read the language with absolutely no problem. I read it like how an English major would read the menu at McDonald's. In other words, it was super easy. I liked it, but it was weird.

I was shocked. I was at a lost of words and I looked up at my dad. He shrugged and said that he expected me to read it. I don't read much because of my dyslexia, but I read this book. Amazingly, I finished it by the end of the day. It was a book on Greek mythology, the gods and their kids who became heroes, and all the weaknesses and strength of Ancient Greek monsters. Most people wouldn't bother read it, but for some odd reason, I found it really interesting. (Also, if you're interested in knowing, I still haven't figured out why I can read Ancient Greek so easily.)

For my other present, I nearly forgot about it. You probably would've too. I have no clue why my dad bought me a 25 cent pen. I mean, I could easily buy one myself at the school store. I left the pen on the coffee table with all the other pens.

The next day, I found the pen sitting peacefully on the drawer next to my bed. I thought my dad placed it there, so I didn't think much about it. Plus, I think a pen is hardly important to me.

I rubbed my eyes drowsily and sighed. The bright morning light streamed in, making the pen on my drawer shine.

All I can say about these dreams are that: they're really, really, _really_ strange.

Sometimes, there would be a blonde girl fighting beside me. Over time, in the dreams, I learned that her name was Annabeth Chase. Also, either I really wanted a girlfriend and was rea Another person was usually there too. According to my birthday gift, that person was a satyr. Half-man, half-goat. The satyr in my dreams was named Grover Underwood and apparently, he was my best friend.

Both of them called me Percy. I tried to tell them that my name wasn't Percy and that I was Pierce, but in these dreams, I felt like I couldn't control myself. It felt like somebody was acting for me and I was just a witness, watching it all. Needless to say, I didn't like it. But I couldn't stop these dreams from coming.

The worst thing about these dreams were that they caused me to wake up early. And on a _Saturday _too. Once I wake up, I can't go back to sleep, no matter how hard I try. If demigods were real, I wouldn't mind being a child of Hypnos. I mean, who wouldn't love sleep? Plus, if a monster was coming right at me, I could just snap my fingers and it'll go to sleep.

I turned over on my bed and felt something poking at the side of my head. Lifting my head slightly, I saw my dad's gift: the ballpoint pen. I wondered how it rolled all the way to my pillow. I picked it up and started toying with it. It was just a normal pen. I can't help, but wonder why my dad decided that this was a good birthday gift. Honestly.

I bet people from all over the world have the exact same kind of pen. In fact, I could take a bus to Target right now and buy a whole pack at a cheap price!

Leaning outwards to my drawer, I rummaged through it to find a blank piece of paper. I failed. The only kind of paper I could find were crumpled papers or uncompleted school papers that had messy scribbles everywhere. I gave up searching after 10 seconds. I thought that I bought 4 packs of lined paper last week...

I decided to use one of the crumpled papers. If they're crumbled, then they must be useless, right? Yeah.

I sat up on my bed into a more comfortable position. I grabbed the pen and began to twist the cap open. Let me tell you one thing: I was so _not _prepared for this. I bet you wouldn't either because it turns out, the pen wasn't exactly a pen.

Normally, when people uncap ballpoint bens, it would be...well, a normal pen. A writing utensil with a point full of ink at the top. It most definitely would not transform into something else. Or more specifically, a sword. Yes, you heard me, a sword.

Now, I have a dangerous, pointy, shiny, sword in my bed with me. Also, throw in the fact that I have absolutely no idea what to do with it. Timidly, I touched it and my hand flew back in surprise. It felt like metal. Real metal. Not plastic that looks like metal. I lifted the sword up in my hands and it felt perfectly right in my hands. I should be freaked out about holding a sword in my hands, but it felt _right_. Call me crazy, but it felt like I was meant to hold this sword. As if this sword was made just for me.

I brought the sword closer to me, so that I can examine it. How in the world did the pen turn into a deadly sword? Was that even possible? Was my dad doing magic? Oh my god! What if he's a wizard or a magician? Does that make me one too?

I ran my fingers along the edge of the sword and felt engravings on them. I turned it over and saw a Greek word. "_Anaklusmos_. Riptide," I translated immediately. Then my mouth fell open. My eyes flickered toward the Greek book that was sitting on top of my drawer.

_Anaklusmos_. It was Hercules, the son of Zeus's, sword. Hercules, the demigod who defeated 99.99% of all the monsters in Greece. The bravest, yet arrogant hero of them all. Also, the hero who had the worst luck in the entire world. Thinking of him makes me selfishly happy because his luck is worse than mine.

I shook my head and pushed my messy bangs out of my eyes. I thought about where the pen came from. My dad. He gave me this, so he must have some answers. For example: how can a pen magically transform into a very large and heavy sword?

* * *

Even if I'm under-age to drink, I think I'm drunk this morning. Or maybe I'm just hallucinating.

When I walked into the kitchen, ready to bombard my dad with questions, I expected my dad to be calmly sitting at the table, drinking his daily cold glass of milk. Of course, that's not what happened.

Since I felt like I was going to explode with all my unanswered questions, I didn't bother to change. I stayed in my comfortable pajamas. No, seriously, it's my most comfortable, but embarrassing pair of pajamas. And I dislike wearing boxers to sleep. I mean, who am I going to impress? The bed and the blankets? Anyway, my pajamas had little boats all over them and if anybody other than my dad saw me in it, I might as well crawl into a hole of embarrassment.

Clutching the sword closely to my chest with both of my hands, I stepped into the kitchen. "Mor–" I stopped and my jaw fell to the floor.

"Oh god, this isn't real!" I shouted, blinking multiple times. "Dad! What are you doing?!"

My dad was backed up on the refrigerator and a young African-American cheerleader was practically on top of him. At least, that was what my eyes were telling me. My gaze fell to the ground and I saw my dad's tie thrown on the ground. _I cannot believe my dad would do this!_ I screamed mentally. I'm officially scarred forever.

Suddenly, the cheerleader pushed herself off of my dad and started sauntering toward me. A smirk was displayed on her lips, but it looked like there was hatred flaming in her eyes. I swallowed. How did I upset my dad's girlfriend in less than a minute?

"Perseus Jackson," she sneered, standing right in front of me.

"Whose that?" I frowned. "And if you're referring to _the _Perseus, then...woah, that's his last name? That's so un-Greek." Although, that was ridiculous. Why would she be talking about Perseus, the son of Zeus?

She ignored me and flipped her curly hair over her shoulders. "Don't play games with me, Perseus. It's not funny."

The cheerleader stepped closer to me and the next thing I knew, I was up against the wall. My eyes looked behind her for my dad. The emotions on his face were blatant. Fear and anger were written across his face. Weird. I was expecting some confusion and jealousy too.

"Hey, hey! Whooaa," I said. "Uh, aren't you my dad's girlfriend? What in the world are you doing?"

The cheerleader drew back and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ew, no! I'm not anybody's girlfriend. I'm Kelli, senior Empousa!" she declared proudly.

I stared.

"And I just want a kiss," she added sweetly.

I think I really need to get my ears checked or this Kelli girl just said that she was a servant of Hecate, the Greek goddess of magic.

Wait, never mind. My ears are perfectly fine. I think it's my eyes that are going weird. I watched in complete fascination and horror as Kelli began to transform in front of my very eyes. Unlike my pen's transformation, Kelli didn't become more beautiful. Instead, she became quite...not so beautiful.

Her skin turned as pale as snow and her hair became a flaming, red color. Her brown eyes also changed. It was a scary red color and it perfectly matched her hair. Even if I was a teenage guy, I normally don't look at girls' legs. Unless they were really strange. Like Kelli's, for example.

Her right leg was bronze and her left leg was slowly becoming a donkey's leg. Luckily, her body didn't change or I might've fainted.

"You–you–!" I stammered. "Vampire!"

Kelli's head snapped to my direction and she scowled, baring her sharp fangs. "I thought we went over this already!" she cried. "Oh, you're just wasting my time."

"We did?" I asked blankly. I may not have the best memory, but I'm pretty sure I've never met this...thing until now.

"I'm in no mood for your games, Perseus. I'm hungry and you're a perfect meal." She licked her lips and her red eyes gleamed hungrily.

To say that I was scared was not the word. I was completely and utterly terrified. This can't be real. Empousai were part of Greek mythology! They aren't real! Greek myths are just...myths. Right?

My ADHD registered the fact that she called me Perseus. Again. Just like the monsters did in my dreams...

How odd. Last time I checked, my name was Pierce Johnson.

Her hand reached out and her nails started digging into my neck. My eyes darted back and forth helplessly. Is this how I was going to die? But I'm too young to die!

"Help. Da–ad!" I choked out.

My dad suddenly broke from his fear. He was no longer looking as stiff as one of Medusa's statues.

"The sword!" he gestured frantically to my hands. "Use the sword!"

I looked down and realized that I was holding onto the sword as if it was my lifeline. Kelli looked down too and she looked like she just swallowed something bad.

"You may have killed Tammi with that atrocious thing, but I'm afraid to say that I refuse to suffer the same fate," she snarled.

Then she leaned in with her mouth slightly open, just enough room for her fangs to be seen. I think her fangs just got sharper or I'm just overreacting. I hope it's the latter.

Right when I thought I was going to be a goner and I pushed Kelli away with all my strength. I didn't work out or anything, so I was lucky that the push caused a few inches of separation. Plus, there was the fact that I didn't eat breakfast, so luck must be on my side.

"You pushed me!" she screeched horribly. I winced from the terrible sound. Her eyes started to glow with anger and with both of her fangs completely out, she lunged at me. I held up my sword and naturally, I swung it as hard as I can. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed to everything that popped into my mind. I even prayed to the trees.

If Empousai were real, then who knows? Trees might be alive. They could come marching in like soldiers and swing Kelli to the other side of the world together.

My eyes cracked open just in time to see Kelli crumble into nothing, but dust. The dust disappeared and there was no trace that Kelli was ever alive.

My hands were shaking and I let go of the sword. It dropped to the ground with a loud _clang_. Suddenly, I felt empty without the sword, but I didn't pick it back up.

"Oh god, I just killed that thing!" I shouted in horror. "Please tell me this isn't real!"

My dad had put back on his tie and walked over to me. His face was pale and his body was trembling. "It's real," was all he said.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

I looked up at my dad, but he said nothing.

"This is just a dream. No, a nightmare..." I mumbled to myself. "It has to be. Empousai are just myths. Pens cannot transform into a sword." I told myself that once I opened my eyes, I would wake up in my bed.

"It's not," my dad finally spoke up.

My eyes opened and no luck. I was still standing in the kitchen with a sword next to my feet.

"What do you mean it's not?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "She..." I gestured toward the place where Kelli had been, "_can't _be real! It just can't! It's impossible!"

"Look, son," Dad sighed. "There's a lot that you don't know. Just trust what I'm going to say."

"Trust you?" I asked. "You've been a stranger for like, most of my life."

A hurt expression appeared on his face and I immediately regretted what I said.

"Um, sorry," I apologized. "It's just...so much to process. And it's only the morning."

"No, you're right," he said. "I'll tell you everything, okay? But first, let's sit down."

* * *

"Wait, wait!" I stood up from the couch and stared at him in disbelief. "So, you're telling me that I'm a..._demigod_?"

I definitely need to take a trip to the doctor's, even if I don't like the doctor's. My dad just said that I wasn't exactly fully human. Apparently, he fell in love with a Greek goddess and the result of that was a half-mortal, half-god child. Namely, me.

"Yes," my dad replied, perfectly serious.

"And that's why you neglected me?" I laughed sarcastically. "When did you become so skilled in acting?"

"But I'm not acting," he said, his voice laced with confusion.

"You have to be!" I exclaimed. "Demigods aren't real. Greek gods are–"

"–Completely real. Don't want to get struck by lightning," he added.

I think my dad is too far gone with the Greek myths. Or he's missing my mother so much that he decided that she was a goddess and that's why she left.

"No, they're just myths," I frowned.

Thunder rumbled and I looked out the window. The sun was out and there were no clouds in the sky. Strange.

"What was that?" I wondered.

"Zeus," he said, scrunching his eyebrows together. "I wonder what happened."

"Okay, just...no," I ran my hand through my tangled hair. "You're crazy. And you could take your pen...sword...back."

"No," he said firmly. "It's yours."

"No," I snorted, "it's not. Why would I need a sword?"

Dad sighed and he pulled out his car keys from his pants pocket. "I'm not the best at explaining–"

"You got that right," I interrupted.

"So," he continued as if I never said a word, "I think we need to take a little trip somewhere."

* * *

**And done! Sorry for the long wait. I re-wrote this 3 times 'cause I wasn't satisfied with the first 2 times, haha. (:  
**

**Did you hear about Rick Riordan's news? He's writing a new book in Percy's POV! OMFG AREN'T YOU EXCITED. I MISSED PERCY'S POV & HIS SASSINESS OK. The only reason why I have a Twitter is only for famous people, omfg. And to read Uncle Rick's sassy tweets/replies. :P  
**


	7. Dad Wasn't Lying

**I Am Percy Jackson**

_Chapter 7: Dad Wasn't Lying_

* * *

He didn't even let me change. Going outside in pajamas with little boats all over them wasn't exactly my style, but apparently, we had to 'leave right away.' I mean, seriously! It won't even take more than 5 minutes for me to change into a t-shirt and jeans.

During the entire car ride, we were silent. Usually, I would feel awkward because I hated silences. But this time, I was too absorbed in my thoughts to care. My hands were shaking the entire time and I couldn't stop them. The only thing that was running through my head was that I killed her. I killed that girl–_thing_! I swung my transforming sword and chopped off its ugly head! Oh god, what if I go to juvenile? I doubt I'd survive for more than one week there.

Dad cleared his throat, interrupting me from my thoughts. "We're here."

We stopped in front of a big pine tree. Next to it was a temple entrance with the words _CAMP HALF-BLOOD _engraved on the top. My eyes widened with shock when I saw what was happening beyond the entrance.

Boys and girls around my age were sword-fighting, shooting arrows, canoeing, and climbing up a wall with bubbling lava underneath. Shouts and laughter erupted from the place.

"What is this place?" I whispered in amazement. I'm sure that I've never set one foot in here before, but I felt a close connection with this place. Oddly enough, it felt like home.

"Camp Half-Blood," Dad said.

"What am I doing here? Shouldn't you be driving me to the police or something?" I asked.

"Well, you're here to...uh, learn to defend yourself from future monsters. And no, why would I bring you to the police? You haven't done anything wrong," he said, raising an eyebrow.

That did it. I tore my gaze away from the camp and frowned. "Are you still on about that? That I'm a demigod?"

"Pierce, it sounds surreal, I know, but...you _are _a demigod." He gestured at the camp. "Everybody there is a demigod."

"You're kidding."

"I'm not."

"You have to be."

"I'm not," Dad repeated. "Look, why don't you just go in?"

I noticed that he didn't say _we_. He only said _you_. "How about you?" I asked. I felt a bit uneasy going in there with all the sword fighting and arrows shooting. I mean, what if somebody accidentally shoots an arrow at my head? If you ask me, I would like to stay alive.

"I can't." He shook his head. "I'm a mortal, so I can't go in."

I gave him a look and finally decided to play along. "Okay, fine. Supposedly, I am a demigod–"

"Finally!" Dad breathed in relief.

"–then whose my mother?" I finished, ignoring his little comment.

He hesitated and looked as if he was contemplating whether or not he should tell me. Suddenly, a startled expression crossed his face and he nearly jumped out of his seats. His cheeks were slightly tinged with pink and a second later, a beautiful dove flew past the car. It was strangely close to my dad's window.

"I can't tell you now, but you'll find out soon when you go in," he reassured me.

"You really want me to go in?" I asked. "What if I never come out? It'd be all your fault!"

"Pierce," he hesitated, "you _belong_ here."

I blinked at him. "I do? But I've never even been here before," I said. My body jerked and I didn't feel right when I said that. That was silly, though. I would remember if I came here before.

"Pierce," he repeated, "I really don't want to see my son get killed by some monsters right now, so please just go in."

I snorted. "Is there some kind of magical barrier around the camp or something?"

"Well, yes, there is," Dad said.

My eyes drifted back toward the camp and then to the pine tree. I've seen a lot of pine trees in my life, but I felt some sort of connection to this tree. I felt like I _knew _this tree, but how can I know a tree? Just the thought of it was ridiculous.

_Go in, my son._

I jumped a little in my seat and looked at my dad. "What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything." He raised his eyebrows at me.

My eyebrows furrowed together. Great. Am I now hearing voices in my head too?

"Fine, okay, I'll go in," I sighed. It didn't seem like my dad was going to go anywhere unless I go in, so I might as well check out what's so special about this camp.

I opened the door and stepped outside. I noticed that the temperature had dropped a lot, which was weird. Judging by the color of the sky, it looked like it was going to rain soon. But the odd thing was that, inside the camp, it looked sunny. The stormy clouds were skirting around the camp, as if something was preventing them from going in.

Once I closed the door, I heard the engine start up. I quickly spun around and saw my dad's hands on the wheel.

"Have fun! I'll come back to pick you up after a week," he shouted, rolling the car window down. My mouth dropped and guess what he also did? _He waved_.

"I can't–I can't stay here! Dad, what are you doing?" I exclaimed. He pressed down with his foot and the car began to move.

If you're parent dropped you off at some sword fighting camp and decided to drive away the second you stepped on the ground, you would run after them, right? Well, that's exactly what I did. And needless to say, I drastically failed. I was never the fastest runner in my P.E. class and in my freshmen year, I joined the Track team since it was the only sport where you didn't need to tryout for.

At all the track meets, I always finished last, no matter which event I was running. I had a lot endurance and stamina, so I usually ran the mile, but I was sadly lacking speed. I mean, I do great in the middle, but at the end, that's when everybody force themselves to sprint as fast as they can to the finish line. When they do that, I literally eat their dust. It makes me sad that instead of getting Dad's good genes, I got his not-so-great ones.

I glared at the tracks the car made. Then I turned around and saw that I wasn't too far from the entrance. Wow, I must run really slow.

* * *

As I began trudging reluctantly toward the camp, I sighed as if it was the end of the world. I saw something shiny and golden resting on top of the pine tree when I got to the entrance. I wondered why they put it there. It looked really expensive and the pine tree looked pretty easy to climb. It'd be a piece of cake for anybody to steal it and run away with it.

I shook my thoughts away and stepped through the entrance. The smell of fresh strawberries immediately reached my nose.

I stepped back out.

The smell of mud and trees filled my nose, which I wrinkled my nose to.

I stepped back in.

Strawberries.

_Weird_, I thought.

I shrugged and thought it must just be my nose. I took small steps and prayed that nobody would notice me. _You don't see me, you don't see me_, I thought. But of course, that didn't happen. Some kids stopped and pointed at me and they were laughing. Was there something on me?

I looked down and stopped midstep. When I saw what was causing the laughter, I wanted to turn around and run away from this place as far as possible. I was in my pajamas. The pajamas with little boats all over them. I cursed my dad mentally.

"Nice pajamas!" I heard someone call out. Snickers followed after they said that.

I blushed in embarrassment and kept my head down and began walking faster. I was looking for a shadowy place where I won't be in plain sight with my pajamas when I heard hooves.

Great. Was a horse going to come and run over me now?

That actually happened to me before. One time, on a class field trip in elementary school, we went to Auntie M's Farm. Once we got there, everybody immediately seperated into their groups, but since I was in no groups, I stood there myself, playing with my fingers. I didn't know what to do until I heard horse hooves running behind me. A normal person would move, but I guess my mind wasn't functioning properly.

And that was the story of how a horse ran over me. Although, it didn't bite my head off like I expected it would. Instead, it began to lick me like a happy dog. Let me tell you one thing, horse saliva is nothing like dog saliva. In fact, it's the complete opposite because it stinks. I'm surprised my 10-year old self didn't faint from it all. The horse from the farm kept neighing, but since I didn't speak horse, I couldn't understand what he/she said.

I heard the hooves skid in front of me and I looked up. It blocked the sun for me, which I was grateful for.

I blinked twice to clear my vision. My jaw fell to the ground and I'm pretty sure I looked like a lost fish.

"Oh my, God!" I yelped, taking a step back.

Standing in front of me was a half-horse, half-man. His head and chest were of a man, but starting below his stomach was the body of a white horse.

"Um, nice costume," I said.

The half-horse, half-man gave me a puzzled look. "What costume?"

"That..?" I pointed at the horse body.

Once I pointed, an offended look crossed his face. "My dear boy, this is not a costume!"

"Not a costume?" I echoed faintly. "You–you're not human... What are you?" I knew what he was in the back of my head, but I was drowning in the deepest level of denial.

"Why, a centaur, of course," he said. "Now, who are you, child?"

His eyes that seemed a thousand years old stared into mine and out of the corner of my eye, I saw his tail flicking back and forth. No costume could do that. As much as I didn't want to, I was beginning to believe my dad.

"I'm Pierce Johnson," I said, not sure if I should take my hand out and let him shake it. "Uh, my dad send me here. He said I was...um, a demigod."

"You do not believe him," he stated.

A small crowd was gathering around us and I wished that they would go away. I hated attention. At school, I'd wear the plainest clothes possible and just stay in the corners where I wouldn't be noticed. It was better than being picked on or teased everyday.

The centaur didn't seem to notice about the crowed, or if he did, he didn't mind.

I scratched the back of my head nervously. "Not really. I mean, I did kill this empousa girl–Kelli–and you're sort of living proof of it all, but it all seems so unbelievable," I rambled.

"Wait,"–he held his hand up in a _Stop _motion–"Empousa? You killed an empousa?"

"Yeah, it broke into my kitchen," I said. I didn't mention the pen. I didn't know why, but I didn't feel like it. I slid my hand into my pocket and clutched onto the pen. Suddenly, I felt protective over it.

He began muttering to himself under his breath, "Oh, the orientation film won't do."

"Um, sir?" I asked, shifting all my weight onto my left foot.

His eyes flicked to me. "Are you feeling hurt?"

I raised an eyebrow. I thought of the slang at first. People at school used the word _hurt _to describe ugly or moded.

"No." I shook my head.

"Good. Why don't we go to the Big House for a talk, Pierce Johnson?" The centaur extended his hand formally at a big white house.

* * *

The Big House was pretty and was the most normal-est thing I've seen today so far, but I don't think I would ever go back.

Why?

Because of the company it kept.

Inside the house was a short man slouched on a leather couch. He had red nose, big watery eyes, and dark curly hair. He looked like he had a cold or was extremely sick. He wore a wrinkled Hawaiian shirt with grapes all over them. I immediately got a bad vibe from him and I didn't even utter more than one word to him.

"Who is this? Another selfish brat?" he said, shuffling a pile of cards.

"Now, Dionysus," the centaur said calmly. "This is Pierce Johnson."

"Whatever, I don't care," Dionysus waved his hand dismissively. My eyes widened. _Dionysus_. Then I made a face. The great god of wine was _that_? Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, gave up her throne on Mt. Olympus to _that_?

I followed the centaur over to a desk and took a seat. I studied him for a moment when I realized that I didn't even know his name. "Do you have a name?" I blurted.

"Of course he has a name! Brats with no brains these days," Dionysus cried.

I resisted the urge to go up to him and give him a nice punch in the face. I told myself that he was a god and I was not. Besides, in the myths, Dionysus was pretty deadly and in one myth–sorry, story–he killed a ship full of sailors and turned some into dolphins. I'd like to stay human...or according to my dad, a demigod. Not some kind of sea creature.

"I'm Chiron," the centaur introduced himself, smiling kindly at me.

"_The _Chiron?"

"Yes."

"But shouldn't you be dead? In Elysium or something?" I asked. I felt something spark in me when I said _Elysium_. But I don't think I ever died, so there's no way I've ever been there.

Chiron chuckled. "You remind me of a student I once had. His name was Percy Jackson. The two of you look quite alike, too."

Dionysus made a disgusted snort. "Glad that Perry Johnson's gone."

"What happen to him?" I ignored Dionysus.

His expression became sad. "Like all great heroes, he didn't get a happy ending. He died by protecting the camp."

The room became silent. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, waiting for Chiron to finish his silent mourning for Percy Jackson. _Percy Jackson_. That name seemed familiar.

Chiron shook his head and his hooves tapped the ground. "Well, we're talking about you right now. Pierce, how old are you?"

I blinked at him in surprise. "Sixteen."

He furrowed his eyebrows together. "Interesting. Did anything...peculiar happen to you on your 13th birthday? Perhaps a symbol on top of your head?"

"Uh, no. Nothing happened." I shrugged.

Chiron looked past me and at Dionysus. Dionysus seemed to be confused too, but 99% of his expression screamed I-Don't-Care.

"Very peculiar," Chiron hummed, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Pierce, did your father tell you anything about your mother?"

"He said I'll find out about her once I come into camp."

"Ah, alright, then. Then it seems that we have to wait, but Pierce, do you believe in all of this now?"

Right on cue, someone ran in. It was boy, around my age, and he was panting heavily. From the top, like Chiron, he looked like any ordinary teenage boy. But, also like Chiron, his bottom wasn't. He had goat legs. _A satyr_, I thought.

"Chiron!" the satyr yelled.

"Agh! Can you brats stop shouting?" Dionysus glared at the satyr.

The satyr's legs began to shake and a terrified expression crossed his face. "S–sorry, sir."

Chiron began walking toward the satyr and he looked at him with concern. "Yes, Grover?"

Chiron knelt his head to get to Grover's height. But even then, Grover had to tip-toe a little on his...goat legs. Both of them began to speak in hushed whispers, but Grover couldn't whisper very well.

I know what you're thinking and I assure you that I was _not _eavesdropping.

Then Chiron brought his head back up and nodded. "I'll take care of it. Why don't you go meet Pierce Johnson?"

Grover looked up and his face froze like one of Medusa's victims. His eyes darted to Chiron and back to me. His mouth fell open and he gaped. It only got stranger. He started pointing and stuttering over his words. It looked like he was having an attack.

"Uh, are you okay? Do you need the doctor? That is, if there is any doctors around here..." I trailed off.

Grover continued pointing and I was wondering why wasn't Chiron doing anything.

"Look, it's rude to point!" I finally snapped. "My PJ's aren't _that _bad. I think."

"P–Percy?"

"Who?"

"No, it's not, Grover," Chiron cut in. "Pierce, meet Grover Underwood. Grover, this is Pierce Johnson."

He shakily trotted over to me and held out his hand.

First, I stared at it unsurely. I mean, the impression he gave off a few seconds ago wasn't exactly very friendly. Although, Chiron was looking and for some reason, I didn't want to upset him, so I shook Grover's hand and he jumped away and gasped.

"His hand even _feels _like Percy! He even shakes like Percy!" Grover cried.

"You know how Percy's palm feels like?" Chiron raised an eyebrow at him.

Grover bleated, but it sounded like a family of frogs crying. Don't tell him that, though. He looks very emotional right now and I have no idea what I did. All I did was enter this weird camp, follow _the _Chiron into a house, and he just burst in. As far as I can see, I did nothing wrong, right?

"Of course! He's my best friend! I could never forget!" Grover moaned, chewing on some tin cans.

I wondered where he got them so quickly.

Chiron took one look at my bewildered expression and put one hand on Grover's shoulder. "Grover, why don't you just take Pierce to the Hermes cabin? We'll discuss this later."

Discuss? They were going to discuss about me later? Wow, I didn't know I was so famous and I haven't even been in this camp for more than an hour.

"Yes, sir," Grover said. His whole body, including his goat part of his body, was trembling and I swear I didn't do anything to cause that! "Let's go, Per–ierce."

* * *

We stopped in front of a cabin that looked freshly painted. Actually, scratch that, it _smelled _freshly painted. Even if it did looked freshly painted, it looked old compared to others. It looked like a pile of junk next to this gold, shiny cabin. It was hard to even look at it for more than a second without looking away.

"So, this is the Hermes cabin. You'll stay here until you get claimed by your parent," Grover said.

"Claimed?"

"Yeah. You should know. Chiron told you all about it, right? Your mom or dad is a god and once you come in, they'll claim you. You're a bit strange, though."

"Right. Yeah. Totally. Of course, I know," I said. "Uh, why am I strange? Is it my pajamas?"

"No, you have cool pajamas, but it's just usually the gods claim you when you turn 13. Percy made them swear on the River Styx," he said thoughtfully.

"Um, thanks. Who is this Percy dude?" I asked.

A small spark ran through my body when I said that name again. I stepped away from Grover.

I couldn't wait for Dad to come and pick me up. If he doesn't come back in the next seven days, I'm going to steal some food and run away from here. I'm sure I'm going to be less confused in the wild than in this camp.

At first, I thought Grover wasn't going to answer, but he finally said, "My best friend."

"Isn't he dead?" I blurted.

"Yes, but he promised...he promised..." he trailed off and began to mumble to himself.

"You don't need to talk about it," I said, trying to prevent him from crying again. I never knew what to do when people cried. Like what do I do? Pat them awkwardly on the back and say, _It's okay_? Crying is a nasty business to mess with.

He smiled at me gratefully.

"Ah, I think I'll be okay here. I just go in, right?" I asked.

Grover nodded, showing little horns on the top of his head. They looked really sharp and for some reason, I wanted to touch it. Even if that does sound extremely weird.

"Uh, thanks," I said. "Bye?"

"Bye," he said absentmindedly and began to walk off. A girl with green skin suddenly jumped out of nowhere and jumped on him. Grover's eyes immediately brightened and he gave a big hug to the girl.

I took a deep breath and exhaled. I wish that Chiron offered me a change of clothes back in the Big House.

I cleared my mind and opened the cabin door and walked in. I was expecting a prank to spring out, but nothing happened. In fact, the cabin seemed dark and completely empty. I spotted a neat, empty, unslept in bed all the way in the back.

Right when I sat down on the bed, the lights turned on. Twenty or so kids jumped out behind their bunks and once they saw me, they started snickering. They all had the same mischievous faces and I figured that they were all brothers.

One man, around the age of twenty-something, stepped out and grinned at me. "I'm Travis Stoll. Chiron told us you were coming, so we prepared a bunk for you."

I felt a rush of gratitude toward this person. "Um, tha–"

I paused.

A small, green tail poked out from the pillows. And then another. And add in 4 more. Six little, green tails poking out.

Everybody surrounding me simply raised their eyebrows and shrugged.

"I like your pajamas!"

I blushed.

"Go check it out! What is it? I'm scared!"

I stared at the little tails hesitantly. From my view, it looked a little spiky and I already didn't like that. But I didn't want to appear weak in front of all these people, so I picked up the pillow.

And jumped away from the bed and threw the pillow back.

Underneath the pillow, were the most ugliest lizards I have ever seen in my entire life. Each one was scaly and had little bumps sticking out of their bodies. Their yellow eyes were beyond creepy. A few more crawled out from underneath the blankets.

All of them reminded me of fat, ugly snakes that lived in dangerous forests. Naturally, I screamed in fear, but after a few moments, I realized that I was the only one screaming.

Everybody behind me were laughing the entire time.

Travis Stoll tapped my shoulder and held out his hand. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, the Hermes cabin," he smiled, showing off all his teeth.

_Dad, you better pick me up in a week,_ I thought.

* * *

**I am so, so sorry for such a **_**late**_** update. I've been busy with multiple tests, projects, and getting all my stuff ready for graduation. Wow, it's going to be so scary entering high school in a few months, haha. **

**But anyway, I'll try my best to start updating faster when summer starts since I would have quite a lot of free time! :D **

**Also, a big thank you for all that reviewed, favorited, or followed! (:**


	8. I Meet Annabeth

**I Am Percy Jackson**

_Chapter Eight: I Meet Annabeth_

I lost count of how much campers had asked me how old I was. When I told them that I was 16, they would frown and say something about Percy Jackson. I questioned them, but most of the time they would shake their head and walk away.

I've been here for less than a week and I can already name some facts about Percy Jackson. He died about 16 years ago by saving the camp from monsters, saved Mt. Olympus, disliked by some gods, and has defeated many of the deadly monsters known to man.

There's more, but if I continue on, then I might as well write a whole book about him and that would be a bit odd. Plus I'm no good at writing because of my dyslexia and ADHD. It'll be hard to re-read and spell words and even harder to keep still and focus on one topic.

In the past 3 days, Chiron and Grover would try to find out who my mom was. I tried racing against the nymphs the first time and I lost. I was expecting to lose, though, so I wasn't put out by it.

Even if I did lose to trees–which is kind of embarrassing. Although, they did comfort me by saying that it's normal for them to beat most of the campers. That _did _make me feel better, if you were wondering.

Next, I tried wrestling, but after recieving a broken arm in less than 60 seconds by the Ares kids, I don't think I would like to try again. Chiron gave me this food–ambrosia. Apparently, it was the gods' food and it would heal a demigod from any injury immediately. I thought it was a joke at first because food can't heal you, but I took a bite and my arm was fixed.

I wondered if I could take some home with me since something like eating food to heal you sounded really cool to me. I asked Chiron for more, but he shook his head and said that it'll burn me up if I eat more.

After eating something that fixed my broken arm, I believed the old centaur.

Then I went canoeing and it was the first thing so far that I was okay at. I wasn't super good, but I was acceptable, but canoeing doesn't really seem like a heroic skill to have. I ran my fingers along the water and for some reason, the water felt familiar. Like I did this before once.

When I got off the canoe, Chiron and Grover were staring at me curiously.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," Grover said.

Chiron cleared his throat. "Should we continue on? To the sword fighting arena, perhaps?"

* * *

I already didn't like the sound of "sword fighting," but I followed them anyway. On our way to the arena, I heard some female voices yelling all at once from the entrance of the camp. I turned around and saw a rather large crowd gathering around them. I straightened up to get a better look and saw something shiny and silver. Immediately, I shielded my eyes and turned away.

But Grover did the exact opposite.

He bleated happily and grinned. Without saying goodbye to us, he ran as fast as he could to the entrance with his little goat legs.

"Annabeth!" he shouted as he ran. "Thalia!"

Once the campers saw him, some of them moved out of the way. I watched as Grover enveloped two teenage girls in silver dresses in a big hug. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked giddily.

Both of the girls he was hugging, pulled away slightly. The black-haired girl held on tightly to her bow. She was wearing the same thing as all the other girls that suddenly came in through the temple entrance, but I had a feeling that she was the leader.

She was about to respond to Grover when she looked up at me. Actually, let me rephrase that. I _thought_ she was looking at me at first, but it turns out she was looking at Chiron. She turned around to the other girls behind her and said something to them. I don't know what, but all of them nodded and began making their way across camp and into a pretty cabin that was way nicer than the Hermes cabin.

I wondered why Chiron didn't stop them.

The black-haired girl started to smile and started walking towards us. Her friend, the blonde girl, stayed behind.

She seemed to staring at me...or was it something behind me? I wasn't sure until I lifted my eyes to meet hers. Accidentally, I met her eyes and froze. Her stormy, gray eyes looked as if they were calculating me. I swallowed and I suddenly felt dizzy.

Shock was expressed on her face, but a second later, she lowered her gaze and shook her head.

Grover had trotted back to us and all three of them began chatting like old friends. It was like I wasn't there and I felt completely awkward. Some campers that were walking past gave me weird looks like, _Are you trying to eavesdrop on them?_

"Thalia," Chiron greeted warmly. "Did Lady Artemis send the Hunters here?"

_The Hunters? _I thought. I read about them in the book, but they're real too? I guess I shouldn't be surprised by now, but it was hard to imagine so much girls giving up boys to fight monsters for the rest of their lives. In school, it was hard to walk 5 feet without seeing a couple holding hands or kissing.

"My father called for her," Thalia replied.

"I see," Chiron nodded. "How long will the Hunters be staying?"

"Lady Artemis said that the most will be around 3 months."

"Wait a moment." Grover held up his hands and realized that the blonde girl wasn't there with them. "Where's Annabeth?"

He turned to the direction of the blonde girl, but she was gone. I felt somebody's gaze on me and I looked up to see Thalia staring at me. I felt like she was going to shock me with lightning any moment with her electric blue eyes. Her eyebrows were furrowed together as if she were in deep in thought.

"Stop looking at me like that," I snapped.

She ignored me. "You look exactly like him," she murmured. "No wonder Annabeth didn't follow. She must've seen you."

I blinked. "What?"

Chiron placed a hand on Thalia's shoulder. "Maybe you should go find Annabeth," he said gently.

Thalia pursued her lips in a thin line. "Okay. But,"–she pointed a finger at me–"what's his name?"

"This is–" started Chiron.

"–Pierce Johnson," I interrupted Chiron and glanced over at him. "Sorry."

Her eyebrows shot up. "P.J.," she mused. "Huh. Well, see you later, Chiron and Grover. Pierce Johnson." She nodded at me.

Some of the campers stared at her in awe as she made her way to Artemis's cabin. I don't blame them since her everything about her just screamed attention with her sparkly, silver dress. Not to mention that she was also holding this really ugly, scary shield. And was...is that Medusa's head implanted on it?! I don't think I wanted to know, but it fascinated and horrified me at the same time.

"Whose her father?" I blurted.

"Zeus," Grover answered.

It wasn't that hard to believe that; her being the daughter of the king of the gods. She had a strong aura around her like, if you mess with her, then you might as well say good-bye to your life.

Chiron swished his tail back and forth. "Shall we go to the arena without any other disruptions?"

* * *

I took in the scene before me in awe and shock. I thought the younger campers would be given fake swords to practice with, but I guess not.

Kids that were younger than me were fighting one another with a real, sharp sword in their hands. I winced at the sounds of swords clanging on each other. The sun gleamed off their swords once in a while and it blinded my eyes. I noticed dried blood on the floors, but nobody was bleeding. In fact, everybody looked fine, except for the fact that they were sweating a _lot_. I had no doubts that a 12 year old here could bring me down in less than a minute.

I saw a plastic lunch box with ambrosia sitting on a table near a tree. That was smart–keeping ambrosia around in dangerous areas. Like sword fighting. Very dangerous.

To my horror, Chiron started walking into the fighting. He wasn't going around it, but right directly into it. That wasn't the worst part. He turned around and waved at me to follow him. I closed to my eyes and muttered a bunch of prayers and tried to reassure myself.

_Chiron wouldn't let somebody chop my head off_, I reassured myself. But I didn't feel very confident in my thoughts.

I noticed that the people in the arena looked familiar and I realized that they were all Hermes kids. The organization and cooperation in this camp surprised me. I bet if you took one of the girls here to the streets of New York City at night, they could beat up a gang in a few minutes.

"Since all the dummies are taken, you'll practice with your counselor, Travis Stoll. I trust that you have met him?" Chiron gestured toward the man that had "welcomed" me into the Hermes cabin.

"Get that look off your face. It's not like I'm the enemy. Plus, Chiron made me promise to go easy." Travis rolled his eyes, jumping down from a tree.

I tried jumping down a tree once. It didn't go so well, but I guess Travis would be good at it since he's a son of Hermes. He would need to that skill to be a good thief.

They lead me over to a cabinet where it held different kinds of swords. They stared at me expectantly to pick up a sword. I tried a fancy looking one that was curved at the end. It was too heavy for my poor arm. Next, I tried an ordinary one that looked really light, but I guess looks can be decieving. Try after try, I still didn't find a sword. None of them just felt right. They didn't feel like the one my dad gave me. When I held that pen-sword, I felt connected to it and just ready to charge into battle.

I nearly banged my head for being so forgetful.

Carefully without getting cut, I placed the sword I was holding back into the cabinet. I slipped my hand into my pocket and rolled the pen between my fingers.

"So, where do we go practice?" I asked, straightening my back.

"You didn't pick a sword yet." Chiron looked bemused.

"Oh, I have one already."

"You do...?"

"Yeah. Dad gave it to me. It...um, changes shape."

Chiron hummed in surprise. "Interesting. You have it right now?"

I nodded in response.

"Travis's waiting for you." He pointed to where Travis was swinging his sword around carelessly.

I felt grateful when my eyes spotted him. Luckily, he chose an area where there weren't much people practicing, so only Chiron was really watching.

"Hmm... Let's see what you've got so far. Try to disarm me." He grinned.

I narrowed my eyes at him. How do I disarm him? Do I do some kind of cool ninja move and his sword will drop to the floor and the tip of my sword will be at his neck? But heck, I don't even know what position/stance I should be in right now! Do I crouch my knees and lean forward slightly? I had absolutely no idea.

"Where's your sword?" he asked, staring at my empty hands.

A little voice in my head told me to just grab a normal sword and to not reveal the pen-sword. But the other voice told me to use it. I bit my lip and felt somebody's gaze burning into my back. Well, wasn't I popular?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw...Annabeth? The way she was staring didn't look particulary nice either. Thalia and Grover were with her. I guess Grover got tired of me. I don't blame him.

"Staring at Annabeth?" Travis chuckled. "Sorry, man, but she's off limits. Hunter of Artemis and all. Plus, that's the ex-girlfriend of Percy Jackson."

I blushed. "I wasn't staring! _She _was staring."

By the look of his face, he didn't believe me.

"Well, my brother is coming to visit soon. So show me what you've got." His eyes got a mischevious twinkle once he mentioned his brother. Immediately, I got the idea that they were both pranksters. I just hope I won't become their target.

I nodded and carefully slipped my pen out of my pocket. Once Travis saw it, his eyes grew as wide as oysters. Chiron's tail stopped swishing. It felt like somebody casted a magic spell and now they can't move.

I don't know why, but I snuck a look at Annabeth. She saw my pen too. And her expression was stony and cold. Her gray eyes had hardened as if she was trying to hide any sort of expressions on her face.

_What did I do wrong __now__?_ I thought. I knew I should've given the pen back to Dad. This is all his fault. Yes, I completely blame him. I blame him for falling in love with a millenia year old goddess. I blame him for giving me this. I blame him for driving me to this camp and then leave.

Out of nowhere, somebody spun me around. The next thing I knew, I was face to face with Annabeth. Thalia and Grover tried to pull her back, but she resisted. The other part of my brain noticed that quite a lot of people dropped what they were doing and formed a circle around us. I wish the Hunters of Artemis didn't attract that much attention.

Nervously, my full attention came back to Annabeth. She was eyeing the pen with caution and something else that I couldn't identify.

"Uncap it," she demanded.

I wondered how she knew, but I did it anyway. Plus, Annabeth didn't seem like the type of person you wanted to say 'no' to. I pulled off the cap and just like I expected, a shiny beautiful sword appeared with the word _Anaklusmos _engraved on the side. I have no idea how my dad got a hold of this magical pen, but I suspect it has something to do with my mother. Immediately, hushed whispers filled the silence, but the things they said puzzled me. I was expecting them to be jealous and marvel at the beauty of it, but...sadly, they didn't.

"Is that..._his _sword?"

"A pen that tranforms into a sword?! Is that _Riptide_?"

"But how did _he _get a hold of the sword?!"

"It's been missing since he died!"

"I–I...er..." I stammered.

Annabeth got closer to me. She jabbed a finger at the sword and her gray eyes flashed dangerously. "And where exactly did _you _get that?"


End file.
